The Tale of Avatar Cheryl
by saveg1
Summary: It has been about 15 years since Korra passed away. When Cheryl finds out about her new identity as the Avatar, her entire life changes. Now, as she roams through the Avatar universe, she discovers the effects of the past. Unknowingly, both new and old enemies have risen together. Will she handle her new job the way her predecessors did? Or will she break down for good?
1. Surprises

**Hello guys! This is my first fan fiction and I am still trying to figure out as to how to input the story in chapters, and how this whole system works so please bare with me. This fan fiction is about the Avatar after Korra. Please read the entire story before giving me suggestions. I also decided not to write descriptions of how they looked like and I'm not really sure as too which kind of point of view I used, sorry. Also a reminder , I do not own Legend of Korra nor The Last Airbender. Also italics represent thoughts, and parentheses is me the author talking. The story will get interesting later on, trust me.**

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Book 1: Wondering

Chapter 1:Surprises

Fire. Air. Water. Earth.

Just like Avatar Korra's past lives, when her time was up, the challenge of keeping the world in balance was laid into the hands of the next avatar. This time, one that was born into the Earth Kingdom. Like all the past Avatars, when the world needed her, she had to step up and hold the responsibilities of her title.

This is the tale of Avatar Cheryl…(don't blame me for the names)

* "Cheryl! It's almost time to go! Say your good byes! " Called Cheryl's mother. 8-year-old Cheryl sighed. She enjoyed being in the countryside part of the Earth Kingdom, it was where she grew up, but her father recently got promoted to manager in the electricity company in Republic City so she had to move.

_Republic City,_ she thought, _it was in an entirely new nation, a new environment. I will somehow survive it_. Her train of thought was broken by her 9-year-old air bender friend, Bryant.

"Hey," greeted Bryant.

"Huh? Oh, hey. Sorry, was thinking about future events." replied Cheryl with a sheepish grin.

Bryant chuckled, "Always preparing huh? Well, you better not forget about being pen pals with me," teased Bryant. (yes, pen pals.)

"I won't," Cheryl assured, then placed a handmade bracelet made with star-shaped rocks into his hand. "Here, so you won't forget me." In reply, Bryant gave her an air bender necklace.

"Bye, hope to see you in the future," said Bryant.

"You too," Cheryl replied as she waved goodbye and then climbed into her dad's car. Her mother and father went inside the car, too. All of the villagers gathered around the car and watched as Cheryl's family drove away.

"Bye everyone, be safe!" cried Cheryl as she waved to everyone while in the car, a tear slipping down her cheek. The villagers waved back.

_I'm gonna miss her_, thought Bryant as he watched the car disappear after a turn. *

(kinda quick but you'll find the purpose of this later in the story)

7 years later...

"Cheryl, remember to wait for the right moment to attack," said Master Grayson. Cheryl nodded, wrapped the blindfold over her eyes, and got into her earth bending stance. Grayson then sent several boulders toward her. Cheryl reacted and used seismic sense to detect the boulders, successfully dodging the obstacles thrown her way. When she found a vulnerable spot, Cheryl attacked. Unfortunately, Master Grayson blocked the attack at the last second, but Cheryl used the distraction to send a boulder from the right side and succeeded in landing a hit on Mater Grayson.

Grayson was knocked against the wall. Cheryl quickly took off her blindfold and went to her master's side. " Are you okay?" said Cheryl. She then checked if he had any major injuries.

"Cheryl, if you keep holding back than you won't fully become a master. And your father's hard earned money will go to waste." replied Grayson. Cheryl sighed. "I know, but I don't want to hurt people, its just not my nature." The Master shook his head as Cheryl wiped the dust off of him.

"You are too kind of a girl. I would be surprised if you won a war by violence only." The Master chuckled as he said this.

"Anyway, why don't you head on home early today. Its your birthday correct?" said Grayson. Cheryl nodded, she was turning 15 today which meant less worries for her parents. Her father was one of the managers of the electric company, and her mother was a flower shop owner; they both loved Cheryl very mush but because they were always so busy Cheryl was usually on her own. So Cheryl often was left alone but she got to roam the city, giving her lots of freedom. She became friends with some merchants, their children, store clerks and shop owners along with the homeless children in the orphanage she often volunteered. She did have a lot of free time on her hands after all. They loved her playfulness and positive thinking, and she usually kept her emotions in control. However, if angered, she'll give you a spanking with words and a little earth-bending. (Awkward but I didn't know how to explain it another way, sorry.)She loved spending time with children and making them smile. The Master looked over at his pupil, she was thinking about her future plans again, she would always have that kind smile while staring into space when Cheryl thought about helping out with the kids. Cheryl would often discuss about what she did in her free time during earth bending class. Grayson sighed, _kindness can be a weakness, but also be a strength. At least Cheryl gave herself free time with her kind of age friends._ He cleared his throat to get Cheryl back into reality.

"Sorry." cried Cheryl when she realized that she was too into her thoughts again.

Grayson patted her on the back. "You did a good job today. And I will be at your party today, your father invited me. I am also going to bring an pretty famous elder along, I already notified your dad, and he said yes, so don't freak out if you see an old man you don't recognize at your party." said Master Grayson. Cheryl chuckled and replied with an "OK". She grabbed her stuff and headed home. Today felt special and busy for some reason, she didn't know why but she figured she would figure it out later.

At home...

When Cheryl got home she found her mother decorating the living room.

"Happy Birthday Cheryl! Dad made sure we made the party for our closest friends so you won't be too overwhelmed with people." said her mother with a cheerful smile.

"Thanks for decorating the place! You're a great mom." Cheryl hugged her mother and than went to her room to put her stuff down. In her room, she plopped down on her bed, then threw her stuff onto the chair, just because she was genuinely, kind doesn't mean she can't be lazy. While lying down on her bed, she heard something come in and looked at the door. Her badger-mole snuggled its head to her. Cheryl laughed, and hugged her animal friend in return. When she first arrived in Republic City, she found that her tiny badger-mole friend as small as a puppy back then , had sneaked into her car, and ever since they have become best friends ; but now her badger-mole was as big as a polar bear dog, and it was great at earth bending in its own badger mole ways. However, being a badger-mole in the city isn't very good since there isn't much space to earth bend legally for such a huge animal.

"I know I have been busy with others things and can't take you out to the city since its too crowded these days. Sorry, for making you so lonely, Sona" said Cheryl as she patted her friend on the head. Cheryl thought about a place to relax, _the special spot in the park, perfect!_ She patted her furry badger-mole, and said goodbye to her mom to go to the spot. It had been quite some time since she went there.

In the park...

The spot was hidden quite well, bushes and trees covered the entrance of the path, and at the very end of it was a medium sized pond filled with gold fish, algae , and all the other stuff in a pond ecosystem. Back when she wasn't so busy with life she would often enjoy the calmness of the place. When Cheryl reached the pond, she sit down, and looked around the environment, enjoying the scenery. But for some reason, the water seemed to be drawn towards her, as if calling to her. Hesitantly, Cheryl touched the water. And than suddenly, Cheryl felt like she was transported to a different place, but it was still the pond. Cheryl saw a water tribe girl around the age of 18 sitting with a boy that seemed a little bit older. _Avatar Korra,_ Cheryl thought, _and … Mako. Why did she know these people? She didn't remember meeting them before, yet they felt so familiar. _The couple was sitting peacefully by the pond, it seemed a little too quite though. Korra had a worried expression, while Mako's presence seemed to comfort Korra and he had his arm around Korra, like in a reassuring hug.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to take on the Earth Queen's forces, you're a strong girl with great talent, plus you're the Avatar." said Mako.

"That's what I'm worried about, what if I lose? What if I can't stop this war from escalating?" replied Korra. Korra stood up to leave.

"I gonna check the docks to make sure that there aren't any battleships arriving from the Earth-" BAM! An explosion nearby interrupted Korra's sentence.

"Oh no," said Mako " Its already begun." Using the clearing above the pond, Cheryl saw Green airships landing bombs on the city. Next thing Cheryl knew, she saw Avatar Korra going into the avatar state and destroying the airships before seeing a bright flash.

Finally, she heard Korra's voice say "You are the Avatar, protect the world from the Earth Queen's destruction..." _I'm...the avatar?,_ thought Cheryl, _That's impossible... Why me?_ Suddenly she saw another flash and was sent back to reality. She paced her breathing back to normal. _What just happened? _she thought. Suddenly, Cheryl heard rustling, she whipped around and accidentally created air swipe that knocked down a 60-year-old Water Tribe Man that was entering the pond area. Cheryl wanted to help the man up, but then again he is a stranger, so she got into her fighting stance.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm only here to deliver flowers for my mother. This was one of her favorite spots in the city, and this was the day…...she died. Its been 15 years since she passed away." Said the Man. Even though Cheryl felt that she needed to be hostile, she felt like she knew this person. He seemed … familiar.

"I feel like I've seen you before," said Cheryl. "You're Irwin!" Irwin cocked his head in confusion. _How did this girl know my name? Is being Avatar Korra's son the reason? _Thought Irwin.

"How do you know my name?" replied Irwin as he got up.

"I just ...know... you for some reason." said Cheryl. _He is my son_, said Korra's voice in Cheryl's head. _You sure he is your son?,_ thought Cheryl. And then Cheryl suddenly gasped as she felt like something was coming out of her. A projection of Korra appeared in front of them. Cheryl watched as Korra patted Irwin's head before whispering something to Irwin and pointed at Cheryl. Then, Korra's projection disappeared. Leaving Irwin teary eyed.

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**So please remember to review, this is my first fan fiction so I hope you like this. Also, a spoiler alert: The Earth Queen isn't the only antagonist . This is only the first chapter, I'm sorry if it is bad, I will try my best to make the rest of the plot chapters better, but please give me some time.**


	2. Changes

**Hi guys! The first couple of chapters are kinda an intro the the setting and characters, but I'll will try my best to make it not boring. I also changed the format a bit, so the thoughts won't be in italics, but I will continue to use parentheses to share my own thoughts, as in the author. Please review!**

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Book 1: Wondering

Chapter 2: Changes

Cheryl blinked several times at teary eyed Irwin, it was kinda awkward for her since she didn't fully understand the situation.

Irwin was currently wiping his tears, and collecting his thoughts. If Cheryl was truly the Avatar according to his mother, then Cheryl wasn't only an air-bender. Seeing the girl in attire that represented Earth Kingdom nationality while being an air-bender at the same time made things much more clear. Although there was a chance that once one her parents was an Air Nomad, while the other was from the Earth Kingdom. He studied the girl, and began thinking about approaches to tell Cheryl that she was the Avatar and was going to need to accept it. Cheryl was still kinda in fighting stance and he didn't want to be strike again.

'Trust him', Korra's spirit kept whispering these words to Cheryl. Cheryl whipped around the area making sure that it wasn't just so random person nearby actually whispering (hey you never be too careful right?). She sighed.

"Fine." said Cheryl out loud as she walked up to Irwin and extended her hand to receive a handshake. Irwin gave a astonished look before shaking her hand.

"Korra keeps on telling me to trust you. So... Let's be friends okay?" said Cheryl after shaking hands with Irwin. Irwin nods.

"So...my mom said that you are the current avatar. Why didn't you tell anyone?" said Irwin.

"I didn't know that I was the avatar until just now. How can you expect me to tell the world when I didn't even know myself?" Cheryl replies annoyingly while walking to the dirt path that exits the pond area.

"Hey! Wait up!" Irwin called as he chased the girl till they reached the park entrance. Cheryl chuckled as she watched the 60 year old man try to catch up to her. She leaned against the stone fence post that was at the park entrance. Irwin was panting from the run, holding himself up by leaning on his knees.

"Where to?" said Irwin to Cheryl as he tried to focus his vision after the chase. Cheryl stared at the 12 story clock, it was 12:10; her birthday party was starting in 20 minutes.

"I'm going to go home, my birthday party is starting soon," said Cheryl in reply to his question. "Why don't you come too?"

"Okay, but we are going to need to talk to the White Lotus first." Irwin said as he pulled out a portable radio. The name White Lotus brought mixed feelings to Cheryl. Annoyed, yet relived. Angered, but understanding. Trapped, yet protected. Irwin watched Cheryl with concern, Cheryl's face expression immediately changed when he mentioned the White Lotus.

"You okay?" He asked her

"I guess so, its just that for some reason I have conflicted emotions about these people even though I never met them before. Did Korra know them or something?" Cheryl gave a confused look to Irwin. He laughed good naturally.

"Don't worry, I won't give them a call till later. I'll explain some things along the way to your place." Irwin smiled.

Along the way to Cheryl's place, Irwin explained the White Lotus and how she probably has mixed emotions since Korra was put into a compound to train that was guarded by them. He then told her about the Avatar's duties along with the dangers, and some of his mom's adventures. Finally, when they neared Cheryl's house, he told her about how being the Avatar isn't only part of her identity. Cheryl appreciated the advice that Irwin gave her, her trust in him grew. When they reached Cheryl's home, they were 5 minutes early so she began to introduce her new friend to her parents.

Irwin bowed to Cheryl's parents before talking to them. "Hello Mr and Mrs. Smith. My name is Irwin."

"He's Avatar Korra's son!" Cheryl excitedly told her parents. Her parents gave her confused looks. Why was Cheryl suddenly telling them this?

"What's with the bowing? It's not like we are royalty." playfully said to Irwin. Irwin chuckled nervously. Cheryl tugged her parents sleeves.

"Mom? Dad? I need to tell you something privately outside with Irwin."

Her parents did what their daughter told them, after all they were here for her if she had any concerns. When they reached the backyard, Cheryl looked around before speaking.

"Mom, Dad. I'm the Avatar." Cheryl then performs an air swipe to prove her statement. Her parents gave a gasp before regaining composure and looking at their daughter.

"How long have you known about this?" Her father asked her.

Cheryl looked from her parents to Irwin.  
"I actually just found out. I just a vision, or maybe more like a memory with Avatar Korra in it. And then Korra's voice told me that I was the avatar, and she said something about the Earth Queen trying to regain land."  
Irwin studied Cheryl for a moment before responding. "Hmmmm, I'm guessing the Queens plans were why you were notified as your position to the world."  
Cheryl gave a confused look. " What do you mean?"  
Irwin turned to Cheryl's parents "Usually the avatar is suppose to learn of their role at age 16. She is just turning 15,correct?" Both Cheryl's parents of nodded.  
Irwin sighed. " The world is going to need its avatar earlier then usual once again."  
"Again?" Cheryl's mom asked.  
Irwin ignored the question. "For now, why don't you enjoy your party. I am going to Alert the White Lotus about the news, "  
Irwin looked at Cheryl. " Keep the fact that you are the avatar a secret. If the media found out, it won't be good." Cheryl nodded, if the media found out the news would spread like wildfire and there could be someone after her life currently. Irwin left the place to contact the White Lotus.  
Cheryl's parents suddenly hugged her.  
" Ummm. Why are you suddenly hugging me?" Cheryl asked.  
Her mom turned her so they were facing each other. She caressed her daughter's cheek before letting a tear fall. " You belong to the world now, not just us. I can't believe my little girl...is going out to save the world," she hugged Cheryl a little tighter. " No matter where you are, remember that we are always proud of you, and that we love you so much." It was her dad's turn to cry now, they have heard some of the stories about Avatar Korra, and knew how dangerous the work was. " He fixed Cheryl' s bangs before talking. "Promise you'll try to be safe?"  
Cheryl nodded her head. "Promise." She then used her sleeve to wipe her parents tears. " Lets go inside, we still have a party to celebrate." She plastered a smile on to her face before leading her parents inside. When they got inside, Cheryl studied the living room to see who came. She saw some of the merchants' children and waved to them, and they waved back. She then found her parents talking with her grandparents in the corner of the living room.  
She rushed to hug her grandparents. " Hi grandma and grandpa!"  
Her grandma smiled and hugged her. " Happy Birthday! My, my you are growing taller every time I see you."  
Cheryl smiled back."How are feeling? Are you better from the cold?"  
"I'm feeling good. But your grandpa has more oppressing matters to talk with you" Replied her grandmother.  
" What do you mean? " Cheryl stared confusingly at her grandpa. Her grandfather placed his hands on her shoulders and made her face him.  
He had a very serious and concerned face. " Cheryl, you're not going to have a normal life anymore. I know you like to have your freedom. But you're going to be supervised 24/7 by the White Lotus to make sure that you are safe. You're also going to have to leave your old life behind to train in the elements."  
Cheryl was stunned, she pushed her grandpa away. " I'm not a baby. I can handle myself. If I'm going to have to leave my old life, at least give me some privacy," Her voice was rising. " And how do you know about the White Lotus?" She gave him a suspicious glare.  
Her grandfather sighed. "I am a Grand Lotus. But I didn't think that you would be 'the one'. We are only doing this for your sake. In a couple of days you will travel to the Fire Nation to learn and master fire bending. Your master told me you mastered Earth bending, and metal bending."  
Cheryl just kept backing away from them and shaking her head back and forth, she hated having someone look after her, it made her feel trapped within a set a rules.

"Sona!" She called to her animal friend. The badger mole's ears perked up when she heard her name and hurriedly went over to her owner. Cheryl then made a few gestures, and whispered the words 'pier' and 'escape' to her companion. She climbed on to the badger mole's back and they sped off from her home. A few tears escaped her eyes as she clung to Sona, she just wanted to get some fresh air, some space. Her parents watched sorrowfully as their little girl ran away from home. They knew that it would take her some time to adjust to the new title.

Cheryl on the other hand was racing through the streets. She watched with a blurry vision as all the cars whiz by. Why did she have to be the one? That was the only thought occurring in Cheryl's head as Sona lead the way to the pier. By the time they reached the pier, Cheryl's cheeks already was covered with dried up tears. Leaving her family, her friends, her old life, and her...freedom. It was just too much for her to take in all at once. 'I wonder how my past lives reacted when they found out that they were the Avatar. She was pretty sure they didn't run away.' thought Cheryl as she stared at Aang Memorial Island. She sighed, being away from all the fuss made things better. Her badger mole friend cuddled against her. She chuckled and gave Sona a kiss on the nose. "You are the best, Sona. I can always count on you."

Cheryl then felt a tap on her right shoulder and turned around. "Akina! What are you doing here?"

The Water Tribe girl smiled. "I was going to your place, but turns out I found you here. My water bending class went a little overboard. So whats up?" Cheryl was about to respond when Akina wiped Cheryl's face with a rag to get rid of the dried tears. "There. You look better. Why were you crying? You can tell me anything, we are best friends and sisters." They weren't sisters by blood, instead,surrogate sisters. But they still cared for each other like real ones.

Cheryl frowned, and stared out into the pier. The coolness made her feel better to talk about it to Akina. "I found out that I'm the Avatar," Cheryl saw her friend's eyes soften "It's going...to be a difficult transition...so I needed some fresh air."

Akina nodded and gave her sister a hug. "There will be a lot of responsibility. But...I'm sure you can handle it."

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**So hopefully, this time the dialogue was better. Please review, and continue giving me suggestions.**


	3. Getting Ready

**Hello guys! School is starting on September 4th for me, and that is just a couple of days from now. Freshmen year of high school is going to be busy so I won't be able to post as many chapters, sorry. Although I don't get many reviews I will still try to continue this to the very best of my ability. I am not sure as to whether or not this chapter is boring, but hopefully it will get more interesting to you guys. Also there will also be a shift in focus within this chapter. I may also decide to change to 1st POV for chapter 4. Thank you and remember to review!**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 3: Getting ready

Cheryl groaned and turned her body so the sunlight wasn't hitting her face. She then looked at the clock that was on the other side of the room. It was 8 am. She sat up on her bed and sighed. Normally on Friday morning she would have gotten ready for school by now, but since she found out she was the avatar she had get ready to go to the fire nation for training . She looked around her room, Sona was sleeping peacefully on one of the corners of her room. She already packed one-third of her items after her breath of fresh air at the pier. She was going to miss the regular scenery of Republic City. She then got dressed and brushed her teeth, in just 2 days she was leaving and she wasn't looking forward to it. She stared into the mirror in her bathroom, her eyes looked tired from the crying yesterday. She suspected that the tiredness would have been washed away when she went asleep, but apparently not.

She then went downstairs to her living room and saw her mom making Cheryl's favorite breakfast, pancakes.

"Hi mom!" she called cheerfully

"Hi honey." Her mother replied back in a sweet tone.

"Where's dad?"

"They had a little problem down at the electric company, so he was called there."

"Oh." said Cheryl sadly. She had hoped to talk about her...new life...with both of her parents.

"What's wrong dear?" Her mother looked at Cheryl with concern as they both sat at the kitchen table.

"It's...just awkward with this new title...plus its going to be scary. I don't know if I will be a good avatar."Her mom stared at Cheryl for a moment before replying. She placed her hand on Cheryl's shoulder.

"Cheryl, I don't know what will be in store for you in the future. But I am pretty sure you will be a great avatar, and I am also sure that your past lives had the same question in their mind when they first found out. Just be yourself and try your best and eventually you will find out what you need to do to maintain peace."Cheryl smiled back at her mother before giving her a hug.

"Thanks mom. I'll miss you." A tear fell down Cheryl's eye. Her mom quickly brushed it away.

"Now why don't you finish your breakfast and finish packing. And don't forget that you are meeting some of the White Lotus members with your dad and me today at 3pm near the dock." Cheryl nodded and quickly went to finish her breakfast and the packing. By the time she finished packing it was 12pm, then after lunch it was 1pm. Her mother decided to take the day off so Cheryl wasn't home alone this time. After lunch, her mother brought her to the pier again to enjoy the last moment of peace before things were going to get hectic. Mrs. Smith hugged her daughter tightly.

"If only I knew that our time together would will so much shorter, I would have spent more time with you. I am so sorry for being a horrible mother, Cheryl." Tears came streaming down the mothers face along with sobs.

"Don't worry about it mom. You were a great parent, it's not your fault that you are being busy most of the time. Fate had already decided on that. You can't change any of it, but you can accept it. Plus, I wasn't lonely, I had Akina by my side most of the time. She is kinda like an older sister to me."Cheryl's mother smiled at her little girl.

"You've grown up so maturely, you won't need your dad or me anymore."

Cheryl hugged her mother back.

"That's not true. I'm still gonna need you guys even if I am needed to keep peace in the world. You and dad have always supported and loved me, and that's what matters the most." Suddenly, Cheryl felt a tap on her left shoulder. She turned around.

"H-how long have you been there?" Cheryl shuddered, she was surprised that her friend Akina was here out of nowhere.

"Eh, I guess long enough to realize it was my best friend talking about life," Akina then turned to . "Nice to see you again ."

"Nice to see you too, Akina. You've always been there for Cheryl when we couldn't. Thank you so much,"Cheryl's mother smiled at Akina and then looked at her wrist watch. "Oh my, its 2:45 I've got to telephone your father, Cheryl. I'll be right back soon girls." left. Akina turned her attention back to her little sister.

"So how are you coping? You're...leaving soon...right?" Akina sorrowfully looked at Cheryl. Cheryl looked at the ground.

"Yeah...going to the Fire Nation...for fire bending training."

"Can I...come with you on your journey? I mean, Korra and Aang both had friends to help them when they were bringing peace. Besides I think it would be fun." Cheryl's eyes brightened up.

"Really?! You'll come with me? Thank you so much!" Cheryl gave her friend a big tight hug. Akina gasped.

"Ok, I think.. you are hugging me too tightly." Cheryl let go.

"Sorry. I just so excited, that I won't be lonely."

"Lonely? You're always making friends, and I'm sure you'll be fine in the Fire Nation," Akina patted Cheryl's head. "You'll be fine."

Just then Mrs. Smith returned. "Hello, girls. Come on Cheryl, we are going to meet the White Lotus with dad at pier 5."

"Um, is it okay if I come with you guys, I want to be with Cheryl on her journey." asked Akina.

Cheryl looked at her mom. "I told her about me being the avatar, mom. She can keep a secret, don't worry. Besides, even though parents can't come with me, it doesn't mean I can't have some friends by my side." Her mother hesitated, but then sighed and nodded her head to give her approval.

So all three of them walked to pier 5, where they met Cheryl's father and some White Lotus sentries along with Irwin.

"Hi Irwin! This is my best friend, Akina. She is going to accompany me. Is that okay?" said Cheryl.

"I guess so," replied Irwin. "Why don't we talk more on the ship to attract less attention?"

Cheryl's parents nodded and everyone went onto the ship.

"Shouldn't you guys not be dressed in uniform? People are going to wonder why the White Lotus is suddenly here in Republic City. The White Lotus appearing out of nowhere means something serious, and I thought you wanted to keep the Avatar's identity a secret. And why did you guys come out of hiding after Avatar Aang's battle with Fire Lord Ozai." Asked Akina in a whispered tone as they walked up onto the ship.

Irwin chuckled."You sure know a lot about history."

"Well it's my specialty, and I just want to make sure that Cheryl is safe."

"She's the avatar, she can take care of herself, we are just taking precautions." said one of the sentries annoyingly. Akina glared at him before composing herself.

When they reached the top portion of the ship, Cheryl found her earth bending teacher, her grandfather, and about an 80 something year old earth kingdom man. Cheryl crossed her arms and huffed. "How many people do I do know that aren't part of this organization?"

Her grandfather chuckled and spotted Akina."Hello again Akina. Are going to travel with Cheryl or something?"

Akina nodded a yes. "Yep, after all the Avatar gonna need some friends to help her right?"

Cheryl's earth bending teacher then stepped forward."Akina, do you remember that I was going to bring someone with me to your party?" Akina nodded.

"Well, I was bringing this man who was going to do a lava bending performance for you. It would have been a great experience for you to know all the different types of earth bending since you already mastered your metal bending. I believe you know him." Akina raised a brow. She didn't know any lava bender. So who was Grayson talking about? The old man then stepped forward. Cheryl studied the old man's face. Unbelievably, her master's words were true. The old man did seem familiar. It took her a few seconds before a name popped into her head.

"Bolin!" She shouted out as fast as the name came to her. The old man smiled and hugged her. As first, Cheryl was surprised. But then the hug felt familiar as if Bolin had hugged her in the past as lifelong friends. The hug brought a sense of brotherhood, friendship, yet worry for some reason. Bolin let go of Cheryl. He had missed Korra a lot, and he wasn't sure if he would live for the next avatar, but apparently he did. He studied the new avatar. She had kind, gentle eyes ; but behind that was a sense of protectiveness for friends and family, kinda like Korra.

"Were you one of Korra's good friends?" asked Cheryl. Bolin nodded a yes.

"She was an amazing person; when it came to those who she cared about,she would protect them in any way she could. She also became my sister-in-law later on." Cheryl nodded, she wondered if she could as much as a help to the world as Korra.

"So, why did you join the White Lotus?" asked Cheryl.

"I thought I could try to teach lava bending. So far, not much luck. But I will continue trying like my hero Toph," replied Bolin. "For now, lets explain the plan about your visit to the Fire Nation."

Cheryl's grandfather and master then explained how her training with the elements worked, and that they will be staying in the Fire Nation Palace until Cheryl mastered fire bending. Then, they will meet up with Master Jinora for air bending and finally Irwin will teach her water bending.

"But what about Korra's warning about the Earth Queen?" asked Cheryl.

"We have no proof of the Queen's motives currently, so there is nothing we can do now. If tensions do rise though, it will be your job to try to settle it." replied Irwin to Cheryl.

"But Cheryl is also a kid. Shouldn't you take it easy on her?" Akina asked. Irwin sighed.

"Time is of essence," he said. "You should all prepare for the trip tomorrow. Don't bring too much though. At 9 am meet us right here. With the warning from avatar korra, Cheryl must hurry and learn the elements." After Irwin finished his statement he left to go talk to the crew of the cargo ship. Cheryl sighed, mastering one element was hard enough. But all four? That was going to take a lot of hard work. Akina placed a reassuring hand on Cheryl's shoulder.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. Don't forget that I will be there to support you, if you have any concerns you can tell me, you know." said Akina to Cheryl as they left the dock.

The next day at 8 am...

Akina waved good bye to her parents . She had told them of her plans of keeping Cheryl company, along with the fact that Cheryl was the Avatar. They had promised to cover up the mysterious disappearance of the two girls along with keeping the secret of Cheryl's new found identity. It took them some convincing, but Akina was eventually able to get their approval. They wished Akina and Cheryl luck on their journey; and hugged Akina once last time before she left for the dock. When Akina got to the dock, she found Cheryl with her parents. Cheryl's parents were trying to hold back tears and sorrow and were holding their only daughter tightly. Cheryl was buried into their arms. Tears were threatening to escape Cheryl's eyes, but Cheryl kept holding them back, until a single tear finally came out. Akina watched the scene from about 4 feet away, until Cheryl noticed Akina and plastered a smile on her own face. Akina nodded when Cheryl's parents noticed her presence. There was a family moment going on and Akina didn't want to interrupt, but it looked like the moment was over by the time she had entered the scene. Akina then went on board the ship, everything was kinda quiet with sorrow in the air ,even though it was suppose to be a normal day. She searched the scenery for her best friend when she felt something scurry up her sleeve. It was her hamster-rat, Fluffy. Well, one more friend, Akina was sure Cheryl wouldn't mind. She turned around to see Cheryl walking up on to the ship's deck. Cheryl suddenly rushed into her arms and hugged her. She gently hugged her sister back. She knew Cheryl wouldn't be able to adapt that quickly, and was only trying to be strong for her loved ones.

"Everything is going to be fine, it's ok to be afraid. I'm here for you. Take it easy." She gave Cheryl a reassuring smile to comfort the stressed girl. Cheryl managed to give back a smile before going back to Akina's arms. Akina sighed, she felt glad to be able to support Cheryl in the girl's time of need. The ship blew its horn to signal it's leave. Akina and Cheryl waved to the Avatar's parents until they turned into a small speck as they floated away, and finally nothing. Akina leaded her sister inside to rest, as Cheryl began to fall asleep out of exhaustion from the crying.

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**So Akina is going playing a big sister role as you can see. Story seems kinda cliché I guess, but I don't blame me with the sister love. And you guys can suggest characters personalities if this seems awkward to you guys****. Also, sorry about the story not being as flute as I thought it would have turned out. The Fire Nation is going to be shown in the next chapter as a heads up. Sorry about the spelling mistakes, I was typing too fast since I really wanted to post one more chapter before school starts. Have fun with your first day of school! And please review! **


	4. A Welcoming

**Hi guys! How was the first day of school? I did part of this chapter before school started, so I don't really know the first day outcome. You are also most likely wondering what is Cheryl's true personality. Sometimes, she is all cheerful, then she is serious. And she looks like a very bipolar type of person. The truth is that she wants to have fun, but she knows that life isn't always going to be easy, and that it is not possible to have fun all the time. Also, I've decided to try using 1st person POV. Story might go slower though, sorry about that. In addition, one of the antagonist's POV will be shown, so don't be surprised with suddenly change of setting. Hope this chapter's spacing is better for you guys. Please review**

Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 4: A Welcoming

Cheryl's POV:

I woke up feeling refreshed, but my eyes felt really sore. I looked around, I wasn't in my room anymore. Instead I was in a small room with a medium sized map of the United Republic of Nations on the left. There was also a wooden table on the left corner of the room. I slapped my face. That's right, I was going to the Fire Nation. Akina had brought me in here when I got tired. Wait a minute, where's Akina? I look to my right. Akina was sitting on a wooden chair next to my bed sleeping. I must have worried her. I wondered if I kept her from sleeping properly. I quietly got up from my bed, I had slept in the clothes that I wore last morning so I didn't need to change. I peeked one more time to check if Akina had woken up ,before closing the door.

I looked down the hallway, I wasn't familiar with the ship. I curiously looked around the ship, every turn looked the same to me. If Akina was here, we would have easily reached the deck, she had knowledge of all different kinds of ships' interior. Suddenly, I smelled bacon and fried eggs. Food cooking=kitchen. My stomach growled. That's right, I didn't eat breakfast yet. I wondered if I could buy food from them, I knew that was a silly thought, but not everything is free in this world.

I carefully knocked on the door where I heard the cooking from, and opened the door. The chubby 5' 1" woman who was cooking jumped. I point at the pan, to indicate that she is over frying the eggs. She quickly goes back to working on the eggs by turning off the stove.

"What brings you here here little girl? Did you sneak on here or something? This ship is private, and for the White Lotus and their companions." she asks me as she washed her hands and then wiped them on a nearby towel. I am actually 5'2" so I wasn't actually little compared to her, but I ignored that fact to answer her question politely.

"Actually...I'm the Avatar and I was told that I'm going to the Fire Nation with my friend to do fire bending training, and I kinda got lost on this big ship." I replied. The woman gave me a skeptical look. I couldn't blame her, I didn't get to meet much of the crew, and suddenly there was a girl appearing out of nowhere claiming to be the avatar. I looked around to see if I could bend anything, then I metal bent a tiny piece the size of my thumb out of the metal door. Hopefully, it can still close properly. Then I produced a tiny air tornado in my right hand. The woman looked impressed.

"You really are the avatar! Come sit in the dinning room, and I'll prepare some food for you before you go up to the deck." said the woman as she pulled me to another room partly filled with White Lotus Sentries. They looked surprised at first, but then turned to normal expressions. I guess, I'm already known here. The woman then gently plopped me to a seat next to some sentries. They bowed respectfully. I nodded back and they went back to eating. The room seemed awfully quiet. I frowned, couldn't there be at least be some fun. I looked at the monotone faces. I knew just the thing to bring everyone into a good mood, but after breakfast.

Akina's POV:

After Cheryl's crying scene I had brought her to one of the bedrooms. She was so peaceful when she slept. I had decided to stay by her side, in case she woke up in the middle of the night feeling upset. But in the end I fell asleep.

The next day I woke up to muffled sounds of a party. I looked over to Cheryl's bed, she wasn't there. Hopefully, she didn't get lost. I went then went to the deck of the ship, thanks to the fact that I studied ships before I didn't get as lost. Cheryl wasn't on the deck of the ship.

"Excuse me, have you seen the Avatar?" I asked one of the sentries. He nodded a no. I sighed, where could Cheryl be?

"Hey Charles! Did you hear about the party they are having downstairs? Come on!" said another sentry that was passing by. Party? Cheryl could be there!

I quickly rushed to the dinning room and found Cheryl happily dancing with some sentries in tune to the joyful music. There was orange juice, bagels, bacon & eggs, and croissants. I picked some food to eat before watching Cheryl dance. It was nice seeing her cheered up. I finished eating and continued listening to the music. When the party was over, I went over to Cheryl who was helping a chubby lady with cleaning up.

"Cheryl, how are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Great. The dinning room felt a little gloomy, so I set up a party. I got to know a lot of people and it was fun." she replied cheerfully. Then the chubby lady came over.

"Why hello. You must be Cheryl's friend, Akina. She told me so much about you. I'm , one of the cooks here. Nice to meet you." We shook hands, and she went back to work.

I decided to help them clean up, when we were done, it was 5 in the afternoon. At around 7pm, the crew told us that we had reached the Fire Nation, I quickly went to get my stuff ,Fluffy and joined Cheryl on exiting the ship. When we exited the ship we heard a big commotion behind us.

Cheryl's POV:

Akina, Fluffy, and me had exited the ship when a big commotion came from the ship's cargo area. I turned around when a large brown animal then tackled me out of nowhere. I opened my eyes after being pushed to the ground and giggled. It was Sona!

"You wanted to join me girl?" I gave it a big hug on the head, and she licked me.

"What's going on here?" asked Irwin.

"Apparently, Cheryl's badger-mole had sneaked on board sir." answered one of the sentries.

Irwin looked at Sona, then me and nodded.

"Let's keep on moving people, we don't want to keep the Fire Lord waiting." When we arrived at the Fire Nation palace gates, we found the Fire Lord's family waiting for us. The royal family consisted of the Fire Lord, his wife, an 16-year-old boy, and a 13-year-old girl. Irwin stepped forward first and bowed.

"Hello, Fire Lord Iroh."

"Hello, Chief Irwin. What brings you here?"

"I came to help Avatar Cheryl get adjusted to her new life, and on some political news. Cheryl, can you step up here?" said Irwin. I was just about to step forward, when Sona gave a whine for some reason. Probably since it's people she never met. The Fire Lord watched me as I gave a reassuring pat to Sona before I stepped forward and gave a respectful bow. He and his family bowed back. It was awkward seeing the royal family bowing, but then again the avatar has an important role within the world. I shivered at the thought about the duties I would have to perform.

"It is an honor meeting you,Your Majesties." I said

"The honor is ours, Avatar." replied Fire Lord Iroh. He then made a gesture to come inside.

"During your fire bending training, you will be staying in our palace."

"Wouldn't that be of inconvenience to you? My friend, Akina also decided to accompany me." I asked.

Iroh's wife nodded a no.

"The Fire Nation is good friends of the Avatar, especially Aang." Aang...the avatar before Korra. That must be a long time ago.

"Tomorrow, you will be given a fire bending teacher. For now, these are your rooms for you and your friends. You must be tired from your big trip, take a nice rest and take it easy." Iroh's wife gestured to a couple of nearby rooms. I bowed once again.

"Thank you for your hospitality." The Royal family nodded and left.

I picked a room that was medium sized, Akina chose one across from my room. I waved a good night to her and went into my room. The bed was quite huge, it was Queen sized with medium sized pillows. I turned on the light, shut the door, and changed into my pajamas. I placed my clothing in the drawer, and then collapsed onto my bed. Sona curled up next to my bed. I gave her a goodnight hug, before going to sleeping.

**This chapter was shortened up and isn't much cause the next one was going to be longer. The next couple of chapters will get interesting. There also seems to be less dialogue in my 1st POVs, and the writing takes longer. First day of highs school was confusing for me, I kinda of got lost. LOL. Tell me if the story is going too fast or slow. **


	5. Learning

**Hi guys! Sorry for the really long wait on this one, kinda having writer's block and school is preventing me from finishing as early as I want to. Each scenario I picture in my head ends up similar to Avatar Last Air bender, so the story will take longer to write. Originally this chapter was going to be very long, be I decided to split it into 2 or 3 chapters. You will just have to wait for the second part! Hehe. Hope the spacing is better. Please review! Also please tell me if this is turning out similar to LOK or ATLA. And tell me if you prefer me continuing in 1st POV or 3rd POV. _Quotes from Avatar The Last Airbender series have been used in this text._**

**I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender nor Legend of Korra. Did you guys see the book 4 sneak peek? I feel bad for korra, now that she has**

**nightmares. I am also wondering why she cut her**

** hair.**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 5: Learning

Sean's POV:

The Avatar, some White Lotus members, and the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe had arrived about 7pm yesterday. Being Crown Prince of the Fire Nation meant that I had to greet them. My 13-year-old sister had seemed very excited to have guests. I had a feeling she would be too excited though, so I decided to hang around my sis in case, my sister accidentally starts trouble. The Avatar seems a little too polite, so gotta watch out. The Chief of the Water Tribe seemed concerned, and had a letter in his hand. Today, during breakfast my sister had started a conversation with the avatar and her friend. Apparently, the avatar's name is Cheryl, and her big sister Akina had came along. Or something like, I was only half paying attention. Cheryl seemed startled by my sister Lily's hyper personality & fast talking. Akina , on the other hand seemed to handle the situation quite well. Which made me quite puzzled, but then again all big sisters probably dealt with situations similar to these.

During the mourning, I watched my sister give a tour to Cheryl & Akina. After the tour Cheryl & Lily chattered excitedly about their experiences on a bench in the far end of the garden. I on the other hand, decided to sit by the pond and feed the turtle-ducks. Akina then sit nearby.

"Hello, my name is Akina. What's yours?" she asked.

"Sean. Nice to meet you." I replied. There was an awkward silence after this. Akina rubbed her arms as if she was cold.

"So...you from the Southern or Northern Water Tribe?" I said to break the silence.

"My mother is from the Southern Water Tribe, and my dad is from the Earth Kingdom. Though I turned out to be more like my mom's side though. I became a master water-bender. I can heal too."

"Already? That's fast."

"I guess, my family is middle class. So we were able to get a water bending master quickly. I had been learning since I was 4 or 5. You a master fire bender?"

"Yep, can bending lightning too." She nodded.

"How come you wasn't surprised by Lily's hyperness? I usually lose my temper with her." My curiosity getting to me.

"I deal with it most of the time with Cheryl. She may not look like it now, but Cheryl can be very hyper at some points. She even threw a party on the ship along the way here. Though she usually becomes cheerful to ease tensions in the air." I nodded and stared at the baby turtle ducks.

"So, is she going to learning fire bending? She is the Avatar, besides I overheard that there is a situation with the Earth Queen." At first Akina seemed surprised that I had knowledge of the information, but then her face expression turned back to normal as if she expected a person like me to already know. Suddenly I heard clapping noise, we all turned to the direction of where the noise came from.

It was my father.

"Avatar Cheryl, sorry to disturb your conversation, but your fire bending teacher has arrived." Cheryl's eyes seemed to sadden a bit, she sighed and followed my father to meet her teacher. I huffed, her duty was to bring balance to the world, she didn't need to be aggravated about it. For me, I've always thought that our priority was our jobs. However, as a Prince in a peaceful era I didn't do much.

I followed my father to the court yard, when I saw Mr. Johnson. My sister ran up to him, and gave him a hug. I shook his hand. He was once our fire bending teacher when we were little, but then got sent somewhere else for unknown reasons. It was nice seeing him again.

"Roger, this is Avatar Cheryl." My father said. Cheryl stepped up and bowed. Mr. Johnson bowed back.

"Because this is your first fire bending lesson, most of it will be me talking and demonstrating." said Mr. Johnson. Cheryl nodded, the fiery passion out of her eyes. I frowned, to be a fire bender you needed to be passionate & lively. How was this girl able to do fire bending without the basic emotion concept?

Cheryl's POV:

For some reason, I was just not into the mood to do fire bending. Being an earthbender seemed different from fire bending and it made me feel uncomfortable. Roger's voice knocked me back to reality.

"Fire is the element of power. Its all about life and energy. The will to accomplish desires and tasks." I frowned, it seemed so forceful, like having no back-up plan. Roger then produced a flame in his right hand that was as big as his fist.

"Try to produce a flame like mine." He nodded to my own right hand. I closed my eyes. Fire...my will... my want to do my best as the avatar...my want to protect my loved ones. I then felt heat from my hand. I opened my eyes. There was actually a flame in my hand like my teacher! I smiled, the warmth of the flame seemed to make me feel better. Maybe fire bending wasn't so bad after all. After that Roger showed me a bunch of techniques. I did pretty decent, but occasionally tripped. I laughed them off though, I was used to pain from flying rocks, and falling onto the ground wasn't any different. Fire bending was more like blasts instead of the sturdy and stubbornness of earth bending. Roger was a pretty patient man, I was happy that he wasn't the grumpy type. At the end of the lesson, Roger decided to tell me more about being the avatar. Akina, Sean, and Lily also joined in to listen.

"As the Avatar, you have to master the elements and keep peace and balance in the world. Avatar Korra mastered 3 of the elements in a compound. According to the cycle, you have to master Earth, then Fire, then Air and finally Water..." said Roger. But I zoned out after hearing the order of the elements.

I felt like the word 'compound' brought an old memory. I studied the ground, and suddenly I was pulled into a vision. I was in a fire bending exam, well not exactly me. I was seeing through Korra's eyes. Around the sides of the compound were large walls of snow, there was a huge red rug below me and I was getting ready to battle two people. Then suddenly, everything whooshed past me as if I was going to different time period. I felt older and this time I was staring at a Avatar Korra's temple. But we were still in the South Pole. I closed my eyes, the temple was just on the outskirts of the capital of the Southern Water Tribe. I didn't have a visual, but I just felt like I knew where it exactly was. I blinked twice. Why was I seeing this? Am I suppose to come to the temple?

"It would be nice to see the next avatar. Maybe, I could talk to him or her in the future via this temple on winter solstices." I heard Korra say. Then a bright flash brought me back to reality. I decided to keep this info to myself for now and to tell the others later.

"You have a big responsibility, Cheryl. And I heard that there may already be some conflict going around the world. Mastering the elements is only part of your job." Roger continued on

"How come I have to master the elements? Can't you have a team of people that are masters of each element to 'save' the world?" I asked. Roger sighed and got up. He picked a medium-sized stick. Roger drew an earth bending symbol.

"Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring" Roger then drew the Fire bending symbol.

"Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will. They also have the energy to achieve what they want" Next, he drew the air bending symbol.

"Air is the element of freedom. Air Nomads detach themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom." Roger paused and looked at me as if waiting for the information to sink in.

"So by learning the elements, the avatar is able to understand each nation along with its people. Making them strong physically and mentally." I said in realization. Roger smiled.

"You catch on pretty catch fast." I smiled, but then frowned. Being the Avatar meant I was taking on an adult's job already. I had always knew that I would be an adult someday and the fun would end. But as the Avatar, you literally can't have fun anymore, everyone is counting on you. Akina noticed my frown.

"You okay Cheryl?" she asked.

"Yeah" I replied and got up to do a little stretch. I looked at the sky, the sun was setting. It reminded me of the times I stared at Aang Memorial Island back at Republic City.

"Why don't we all enjoy nature or a little TV?" I said cheerfully. Akina looked at me as if she knew something was wrong. Sean looked like he was trying to decode the silent message between my sister and me, but then he shook it off.

Lily instantly jumped up.

"Come on Mr. Johnson! Let's watch the Special Pro-bending Program they have today!" said Lily as she pulled him inside. Nowadays, Air-benders could join pro-bending but because not many air benders want to do pro bending, only a certain tournament during a certain time of year is when teams can include air benders. This special tournament was shown on the color-TV as the Special Pro bending Program.

While everyone payed attention to Lily's burst of excitement, I sneaked away to Sona. She was resting in the Royal Stables. The place was pretty well kept. The stables was like any other one other than the fact that it was bigger, the red paint was more intact, and the insides didn't smell that stinky. Man, I wondered how they do it! I carefully placed the saddle on her back and gently woke her up. I then guided her to the stone walls that protected the palace, I closed my eyes and used seismic sense to detect the width of the walls. I then earth bent a huge deep tunnel for Sona and made a flame in my hand. I hopped onto Sona's back and motioned her to the tunnel and told her to continue digging forward. I then closed off the tunnel opening, making it look like no one had earth bent there. I smiled, maybe being the avatar wasn't so bad if I could sneak away every once in a while.

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**So...yeah, this chapter was suppose to be longer like ,10 pages long. ^-^ Iroh is Fire Lord here! Yeah so hope school is going good for you guys. I will post the other chapters later to give me some more time to type and think. My school gives me me a lot of HW, so its kinda hard to find time to type my fan fiction. Please remember to review, I really need the support.**


	6. The Past, Present, and Future

**So... hi guys. Due to the lack of reviews, I am starting to lose some motivation. You are probably gonna say, that I said that to get sympathy, but in reality its just to state the facts. Please tell me if this chapter is more exciting. ^o^ And please review!**

**To karanathefirebender: Thank you for your support and reviews. Also the answer to your question is in this chapter. ^.^**

**Man, I am so excited about Book 4, I wonder what's the back story on Korra's haircut. Hmm (._.)**

**Also I don't own LOK or ATLA.**

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Book 1 :Wondering

Chapter 6:The Past, Present, And Future.

Akina's POV

After Lily's out burst, Cheryl had disappeared. At first I shrugged it off, but then I remembered that frown on her face. I hope she is okay. I went to her room to check if she was there. The room was neatly set up and empty. I then went to the stables to see if she was visiting Sona. I then asked the servants, but none of them had seen her. I grew more worry, if she wasn't anywhere in the palace, what happened to her? I began to panic, normally back in Republic City she would run off to the pier. But this was the Fire Nation, I had no knowledge as to where she would go. I spotted Sean and Lily in the living room watching TV, and quickly went to them to tell them that Cheryl was missing and I needed their help.

Sean's POV

I was watching the Special Probending Tournament with Lily when Akina rushed in. She had a very worried face.

"Can you send a search party for Cheryl?" she asked me and my sister.

"Why? Isn't Cheryl in the palace?" I replied. Akina shook her head no.

"No. She's gone missing." Missing? Did Cheryl get kidnapped or something? Cheryl was pretty strong, she wouldn't get caught that easily and besides, the guards didn't report anything suspicious.

"He's adorable!" my sister cried. I looked at my sister. She was petting a jumping up and down hamster-rat.

"What's wrong Fluffy?" said Akina with a concern face.

"Lily, stop petting Fluffy. He's getting annoyed."

"Awww, but he's so cute." my sister pouted and did as she was told. The hamster-rat quickly ran towards the door and waited for us to follow. We quickly obeyed. Fluffly had led us to the wall that protected our home. He was jumping up and down on a specific spot. Trying to tell us something. He then did a digging motion on the spot. Akina face instantly changed.

"Cheryl must had dug a tunnel to get some fresh air!" My sister's and my face scrunched up in confusion. The ground looked pretty flat, and isn't there plenty of air within the castle. Akina ignored our confused expressions.

"Do you know any earth benders that know seismic sense?"

"Why?"

"Cause then we can know where the tunnel ended!"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, and can't Bolin do it?" Akina took a deep breath, nodded and placed Fluffy on her shoulder. We went to find Bolin in the guest corridors. Father had told me that Bolin was a good friend of Avatar Korra, a lava & earth bender and that's all I know of him. I had over heard that he was staying here for 1 or 2 days before going to the South Pole to visit his older brother Mako.

When I showed the girls to Bolin's door, Akina quietly knocked it. Bolin opened the door with a tired smile on his face.

"What brings you all here?" he asked

"Cheryl's missing. She dug a secret tunnel, and we need someone who knows seismic sense to know where Cheryl went," Akina gave Bolin a pleading face.

"Sure, I know seismic sense, just lead me to the location." Akina and the others guided Bolin to the wall where the tunnel was. Bolin used his seismic sense and then brought the others to the other side of the wall. He opened up the tunnel that Cheryl had used to get out.

"Such, a big tunnel. Man, your sis is a great earthbender." said Bolin as he examined the tunnel structure.

"Actually, I think Cheryl used Sona's earthbending to get away." replied Akina

"Sona? As in the badger-mole?"

"Yep, badger-moles were the first earth benders."

"Wow, great animal guide choice. It's kinda like Avatar Aang's sky bison." Akina nodded and then looked around.

"Where to now?" I asked. There wasn't any tracks to see where Cheryl went.

"For starters, we could ask the villagers. Bolin, can you and Lily ask around?" asked Akina. They both nodded a yes become taking off to the nearby street market. Of course my sis was my faster. I then heard someone clear their throat behind me. It was my father.

"What happened?" he asked

"Cheryl's run away. At least, that's what we think so far." I replied. My father chuckled.

"Its now been a tradition to search for the avatar." he shook his head as if he was recalling a memory. Akina laughed too.

"Man, the Royal Family of the Fire Nation sure is good when it comes to finding the avatar." She said after giggling. My father smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Go find your friend. I'll be waiting."

Akina then pulled me into the streets after bowing to my father. I waved bye to my dad as I walked farther away from the palace.

Cheryl's POV:

I had gone away from the palace to a spot near the ocean. I was standing on a ledge that oversaw a lot of shoreline. I closed my eyes, stretched my arms and breathed in the air. It felt good to be in a breezy area. People were surprised to see a badger-mole in the Fire Nation, but I wasn't really concerned that Akina would interrupt my moment of peace and freedom. I had a feeling that if I told some one that I was going to get some fresh air, I would be followed by some guards. I hated being under supervision all the time, so I took the advice of the nagging feeling in my head. Besides, I was only going to stay out for a little while. Not like the world would end right now.

I stared out into the open sea. Just being away from all the commotion and busy life of the city made me feel better. Being in a nature area prevented me from thinking about my family. Mom. Dad. I miss you. I felt a tear roll down my right cheek. I quickly wiped it away, being sad wouldn't help my situation besides I had made a new friend, Lily. I smiled at the thought of how joyful she was when she first met me, she was so welcoming. I sighed, if only the world was that way, but then again if the world was that way there would be no need of the avatar. I softly hummed the song 'Don't you Worry Child' the way my mom sang it. She used to sing sing it to me before she got busy with the Flower Shop.

I then heard some rustling behind us and I stopped humming. Both Sona and me turned our heads to the forest behind us. Out came out a ton of gentle spirits. There were at least 15 of them. They jumped up and down, as if warning me of something. I got up and reassured Sona before slowly approaching them.

The smallest one hop to me, and placed my hand on it's forehead.

"Come with us to a safer place. You are in danger." It told me, it's exact thoughts came straight to me as if a buried power arisen.

"What do you mean?" I replied back.

"There is no time to explain." It said before it and its friends carried me over their shoulders. Sona followed them quietly. My vision went black after they transported me somewhere.

Jinora's POV:

I was currently at Air Temple Island. Ever since Korra passed away, us Air Nomads have been trying to bring peace during disputes. I had gotten a telegram a few days ago that told me that they had found the next avatar, her name was Cheryl and was currently at the FireNation. The telegram also told me about how the girl was kind, yet fiery at some points but was too polite to do show it. I smiled when I received the telegram, this girl was similar to Korra in some ways.

Today I decided to meditate to gain a moment of peace. Things were getting pretty hectic between the nations when to came to trading, and working things out of hard work.

As I meditated a spirit buzzed by me and landed on my shoulder. I opened my right eye while staying in meditation position. It was Bum-Ju! I scratched it behind the ears, and smiled. He leaned into my touch, but then suddenly jumped as if he had forgotten to do something.

He than jumped off my shoulder and onto the ground. He then paused as if he was trying to think as something. He pointed at the sun, then at the ground, then at the water that surrounded the island, and then the spinning gates. I tilted my head to the right, why was he pointing at those things? Each of the items that he pointed at were different. Wait a minute, the sun gave power to firebenders, the ground meaning earth, spinning gates meaning air, and water...could he be talking about the avatar?

"Is it about the Avatar?" I guessed. Bum-ju nodded his head excitedly.

"What about her?" Bum-ju then pointed at a nearby flower that was floating on the water. I studied the red-petaled flower. It was a Red Lotus flower!

"Red Lotus?! No! Are they after the Avatar again?" Bum-ju nodded. My eyes widen, it was already a close call with Korra. I hate to think how it would be even more terrible for Cheryl, besides she had only recently discovered her identity, she wasn't ready for this battle. Bum-ju looked like he had more to say but I quickly went to radio Irwin to alert him of the situation. Since I wasn't paying attention to his next words, he followed me as if I was going in the right direction.

When I got to outside of the radio room on Air Temple island, there was a badger-mole standing near the doorway. Bum-ju hopped onto it and bounced up and down. The badger-mole seemed it be annoyed, but then pushed me inside with its head. I stared confusingly at it before peeking inside.

On one of the corners of the room was an unconscious girl, and a whole bunch of gentle spirits were protecting her. I lifted my hands to signal that I was peaceful to the spirits. I crouched down by the 15 year old girl. By her clothing, I could tell she was from the Earth Kingdom. For some reason I felt like I had a spiritual connection with her, but before I could read her spiritual energy, Kai, my husband busted inside.

"Jinora! Suppe-" He looked at what I was squatting by.

"Who is she? How come the spirits are protecting her? And is she okay?" His face was full of confusion and so was mine.

I looked back at the girl, and touched her fore head. She didn't seem to have a fever, yet she was sweating and continuously turning from right to left.

"I don't know," I said in reply to 2 of the questions. "But we should bring her to one of the secret dorms to heal." Kai nodded and placed the girl onto his back in piggyback position. I brought a towel and a bucket of water into the girl's new dorm room, while Kai placed her onto the bed. Bum-ju and the badger-mole followed too.

The badger-mole tried to nudge the girl awake, but it wasn't working. The girl's eyes were squeezed shut, she was still sweating and turning back & fourth , it was possible she was having a nightmare. I then told Kai to get my Gran-Gran, Katara to see if she knew what was wrong. She was 100 something by now, but she knew knowledge of things I didn't and this was the perfect time to use them. I wet the towel and placed it on the girl's forehead. Then, I waited for Gran-Gran to come.

Akina's POV:

Both Sean and me had asked many people already, but we didn't get any clues yet. I knew that Cheryl liked breezy places, but their were many places near the Fire Nation Palace that were like this. So our best bet was asking around. I was just about to ask an elderly selling pretty fresh fish, when I heard some unsettling things around the corner to my right.

I quickly pulled Sean and made a shush sign to my mouth to signal for him to be quiet. He mouthed make a 'Why?' I pointed to the two men in the alley. We hid behind the corner that spun into the ally. Sean studied the men with me. They both wore a black-colored outfit with red details and a red hood. They also had metal shoulder plates and wrist protectors.

"Did you hear? The Avatar escaped the palace alone, and she only knows Earth and Fire bending. She'll be easier to kill then that Water Tribe Avatar from the last generation." said the man on the right. Both Sean's and my eyes widened with shock. Had they been planing o so long ago?

The other man nodded happily.

"We can finally get rid of the Avatar, and all the World Leaders. But our alliance with the Earth Queen won't last long," The tall man grinned evilly. "Then we can all be finally free from control. Freedom."

"Let's go meet with the others to find the Avatar before she goes back to the palace." I held my breath as Sean and me hid in the shadows. Luckily, the two men didn't notice us as they exited the ally.

"Who were they? Cheryl's in trouble and we have no idea where she is." Sean said worriedly. He had taken the exact words from my mouth. I narrowed my eyes and stared into the ground, I remember seeing those uniforms before while reading the Avatar Korra section of the the Avatar History book. I scratched my head. Then the answer clicked into my head. The Red Lotus! They had tried to end the Avatar Cycle and killed an Earth Queen during Korra's era. My heart beat faster, I feared not only for Cheryl's life but the end of peace in the world. I spotted Lily running with Bolin in a certain direction and quickly pulled Sean to catch up with them.

Bolin's POV:

We had asked around, getting no luck until we met on a street that apparently Cheryl had taken since many of the villagers there had seen a huge badger-mole with an Earth Kingdom girl riding it. An elderly woman selling fruit told us that Cheryl had asked her about a breezy point nearby and she gave Cheryl directions to 'Lookout Point'. Lily and me both thanked her before Lily guided me through the route to the place.

That's when we heard a familiar female voice calling our names. We stopped and looked back. It was Akina and Sean! I got Lily to stop so they could catch up with us. When they did catch up, they had really worried faces and were panting.

"Did you get any clues on Cheryl's location?" said Akina between breaths.

"Yeah, she's at 'Lookout Point'" I replied.

"We gotta hurry. The Red Lotus are after her." she said in a whispered tone. My breathing stopped for moment, Cheryl was only a kid, she wouldn't stand a chance against them. Lily and Sean both had confused faces, but Akina just urged them to continue running. We did as we told and followed her.

I was surprised that Akina knew the way, but according to Irwin, this girl was all about history & geography. As we were running towards the forest, Sean mouthed the words 'What's the Red Lotus?' I mouthed back 'Later.' And he nodded back in understanding. I could understand why Akina was so worried, Cheryl was like a little sis to her, if anything happened to Cheryl, she wouldn't forgive herself. It was kinda like how Mako treated him. I only hope that we got to Cheryl before the Red Lotus did.

Cheryl's POV:

After the spirits taken me somewhere, and I had blacked out, I got another vision or to be exact, memory. This time I, actually it was Korra, but once again I was looking through her eyes,was somewhere underground with green crystals everywhere. There was a Red Lotus symbol behind me, don't ask me on why I knew it was that symbol, I just knew it. I also had my hands bound up be chains on each of my limbs. There were a couple of people standing over at the edge, and then a big blob of black was metal bent into my body's limbs. So...much...pain. I heard a echo of voices saying that the Avatar wasn't needed no more, and the words felt so true too. "Give up, give in, darkness is stronger than ever" I screamed, and opened my eyes for real this time.

I was sitting up on an unfamiliar bed. The towel fell off my head, and onto my lap. I shivered, pulled my legs towards me, hugged them and rocked back and fourth. The dream had creep me out, and I had a feeling I needed to talk to Korra to get the full story on the memory. I looked to my right. It was Jinora and Katara. Wait a minute, I don't know these people. But... I knew their names...and had a feeling that I could trust both of them. I looked downward and found the spirits that had taken me here staring at me.

Branyt's POV:

I heard a girl scream, that scared me like crazy. It came out of nowhere, and it didn't sound like any of the airbenders I knew that lived here. I quickly rushed to the source of the sound. I found an 15 year old Earth Kingdom girl sitting on the bed with Master Jinora and Master Katara sitting in the same room as her. Why was this girl suddenly here? I studied her face... she looked like...Cheryl!

I humbly steeped forward. The girl looked at me confused and hugged herself even tighter.

"Are...you...Cheryl?" I asked. The girl's face expression changed into many different emotions, but settled on a neutral face in the end. She then hesitantly nodded. My face instantly brightened! I haven't seen my old hometown friend in years. I had moved here a couple of weeks ago to train for airbending, and had also gone to visit her place, but her parents told me she was on a vacation...which was weird since this time of the year was dedicated to school.

"It's me Branyt!" I said excitedly. "Don't you remember me?" She blinked a couple of times before giving me a tired smile. I frowned, she normally wouldn't act like this. She would usually give me a hug or at least say something good naturally. Did years being apart make us lose our friendship? Jinora noticed my frown.

"Why don't you...get some tea& food for our new guest here?" Jinora said to me. I nodded slowly before exiting. Cheryl watched me leave and I waved awkwardly to her before going to the kitchen to do as told.

Katara's POV:

I quietly closed to door. It groaned before fully closing itself. The girl seemed to cringe when she heard the door hinge. Both Jinora and me frowned, we haven't seen this type of behavior since Korra was recovering from the Red Lotus attempt to kill her with poison and suffocation. The girl hummed a song while continuously rocking. She was staring at Aang's Memorial Island and had sad eyes.

I brought my chair over by the girl's bed. I carefully turned the girl to face me. I stared into her eyes, they were gentle and kind, yet a fiery passion to protect loved ones with hints of fear. I sat down.

"Is your name Cheryl darling? Can you tell us your origins? Don't worry we won't hurt you and you are on Air Temple Island in Republic City dear." I asked softly. The girl nodded.

"I know you won't hurt me." She said quietly and then paused.

"Katara...Jinora." they were the only words that came out of her mouth for quiet some time, then she looked at us and she waited for a response. We just stared out of shock, many people knew my granddaughter's face, but only few knew me personally.

She then eyed the blue armband that Jinora wore and squinted.

"My armband." were the girl's next words. I gave a confused face to Jinora, that armband was Korra's, Korra had given it to Jinora before she passed away. Jinora carefully pulled the armband off her arm and gave it to Cheryl. The girl smiled as she touched the fabric as if the armband's texture was familiar. While Cheryl touched the armband, Jinora studied the girl's spiritual energy. When she was done, Jinora's mouth laid wide open. I looked back at Cheryl, she was playing with the spirits now and had a smile on her face.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were the Avatar?" Jinora asked. The girl's eyes sadden even more and continued petting Bum-ju.

"I was getting some fresh air after fire bending training, when the spirits came and transported me away . While I was unconscious on the way here, I got a memory of being Korra...getting poisoned...and something telling us that the Avatar was no longer needed." She replied. I quickly gave the girl a hug, I knew what was coming next. At first she tensed, but then relaxed.

"So much pain," Cheryl continued speaking while her voice spoke in some kind of trance. "So confused...So much doubt" I let go and noticed her face full of tears. Cheryl wasn't sobbing, but there was pain spoken in her face and tears just kept dripping.

"Don't cry, everything is going to be okay." said Jinora as she wiped Cheryl's tears. Cheryl gave a confused face before touching her wet cheek.

"I'm not crying...Korra is" she whispered.

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**So...there you go folks! Team Avatar is almost complete! Also, now the little prologue makes more sense. And I will be including also characters from LOK. Although I know that Korra will get over her depression, the memory that Cheryl is experiencing is ONLY is from the time Korra was feeling scared. Hope you liked this chapter. Please, please review!**


	7. Meetings

**So hey guys! This is the next chapter! And yeah, Jinora is around 50 or 60 in this fanfic. And no, Bolin is not part a permanent member of this Team Avatar, though I hope to get more of him in here. He's mostly going to be a supporting character. Sean is NOT going to be a love interest for Cheryl, just saying. I don't think this chapter has as much action as the last one, but enjoy! And please review, I really need to know if the story needs improvement! Also, tell me if you want Lily's perspective, I'm considering her POV but her viewpoint may be too narrow. **

**T _ T**

**To karanathefirebender: Thanks! You're the first person to say that. And a surprise person!**

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Book 1: Wondering

Chapter 7: Meetings

Akina's POV:

When we got to 'Lookout Point', no one was there. I started to panic, and collapsed to my knees.

"Where is she?" I whispered, the Sun was already setting and I was worried like crazy. Did the Red Lotus get her? Is she hurt? Tears were already threatening to drop from my eyes out of fear. Sean put a comforting arm around me.

"Don't worry, she might have gone back to the palace."

"I hope so." Suddenly, there was this breeze that was blowing that sang in a sad way. A purple dragonfly-bunny spirit appeared in front of us, and a then sudden flash. After that, darkness.

Katara's POV:

While Cheryl had cried, I gently rubbed circles on her back to calm her down. Eventually, her breathing got back to normal a pace and she was sleeping in my arms. Jinora studied the girl while I put Cheryl into the correct sleeping position and placed the blanket on her. I sighed, it reminded me of the times I comforted Korra when she got frustrated, only this time I was dealing with a gentler girl, somewhat similar to Aang.

I got the small blue wet towel from the bucket of water and used it to gently wipe the dry tears off Cheryl's face. At first, the girl stirred, but then went back to sleep.

I smiled and left the room. I then went to the kitchen, and found Branyt sitting at the kitchen table with tea set up. His head was laying on his crossed arms and was staring at the teapot a couple of cm in front of him. I cleared my throat. The poor boy jumped and after realizing it was me, he bowed. I nodded back and sat across from him. He then continued to stare at the teapot.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"She's seems so different. I mean we used to be pen pals, and she still had her personality when we wrote to each other..." I remained silent, knowing who he was talking about.

" Times have changed, but I'm sure the Cheryl you know isn't gone. She's just in a … sort of depression currently, it won't last long." Branyt looked at me directly in the eye.

"You sure?" I nodded back.

"Just give her some time, and slowly reconnect. You seem to have had a good relationship with her, it'll be repaired." The boy smiled and gave me a hug.

"Thank you for your support." I smiled, and returned the hug.

"Why don't you train your airbending a little more outside today? I'll call Jinora." He nodded and went outside to wait for my granddaughter.

Jinora's POV:

Although it was night by now, the city was still bustling and lighted up. I stared at the new 'avatar', she seemed so innocent to me. Yet, she had to take on the pressure of the world. I remembered when I first met Korra, she was an amazing person. Headstrong, fierce strong, but later on she matured. It kinda took out the fun of things, but later on I also had to take on the task of growing up. When I became a Master Airbender, I couldn't play around as much.

"Jinora! Branyt is waiting for you outside to practice airbending!" shouted my Gran-Gran.

I stepped out of Cheryl's room and closed the door."Coming!" I shouted back. I took a deep breath and started to walk to the practice place.

Branyt was kinda hard to train in a way since he was goofing around nature most of the time. But I couldn't blame him, he had to work on the fields most of life, and just a few days ago he was finally allowed by his family to join us airbenders. He was enjoying his taste of freedom.

When I got to the practice place with Branyt I noticed a bunch figures laying by a nearby tree. There was also a purple dragonfly-bunny spirit with them. Branyt seemed to notice the dark bunch too, and he quickly went over there to check it out. I quickly followed him.

There were 4 unconscious people. Man, how many people do I need to find knocked out? Branyt poked a young 16 year old boy. The boy laying on the ground grunted before going to fighting position, but then he looked to his friends and tried to wake them up. With the 17 year old fire nation boy was a water tribe girl about the same age as him and a 13 year old fire nation girl. There was also a 70 year old Earth Kingdom Man with them. They shook themselves to wake their body up. The water tribe girl noticed Branyt's and mine presence. Her eyes widened in surprised and she bowed to me. She then forced the other kids to bow, though they seemed confused. The old man just kept smiling.

"Is that you Jinora?" He asked. I studied his face. It was Bolin!

"Bolin! Nice to see you again." He gave me a quick hug and began introducing me to the kids that were with him. He gestured to each kid and stated their name. The water tribe girl was Akina, the boy was Sean, and the girl in Fire Nation attire was Lily.

"Akina is a friend of Cheryl. Oh yeah, Sean & Lily are the Fire Lord's children." He said finally. I nodded.

"I'm Jinora, a Master Airbender. Nice to meet you," I shook hands with the boy.

"By any chance... have you seen Cheryl? I know it's a weird question since she is suppose to be in the Fire Nation...but a spirit brought us here...and it could be possible..." I nodded a yes. Relief spread across her face.

"Is she well? Can I see her?" Akina asked.

"Sure, but she's sleeping." I replied.

"That's okay, as long as she is safe I'm good." I nodded and was about to guided Akina when Lily sped up to Branyt and burst into several questions.

"Who is this? Why are you so tall? Are you a airbender?" Lily pointed to Branyt.

"I'm Branyt. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand, Lily shook it really hard. Sean went over to his sister.

"Lily, don't knock the sense out of him." He pulled Lily away from Branyt.

"Sorry about my sis."

"It's okay." I noticed Akina's head was titled and she was trying to decide on something about Branyt.

"Are you the Branyt that is pen pals with Cheryl?" Akina asked.

"How did you know?" He replied in a surprised manner.

"Cheryl talks about you all the time. She said that you try to make her laugh all the time, even in letters."

"Really?!" His face brightened up into a smile. Akina nodded.

"What's going on out here?" I heard Gran-Gran's voice behind me.

"Gran-Gran, we have some new guests." I gestured to the kids and Bolin.

"Hi Katara. It's me, Bolin!"

"How are you doing Bolin? Is your school working out?" Bolin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Actually no, but I made new friends on the pit stop to visit Mako." He introduced them once again to Katara.

"Why don't you guys eat dinner here? We have some leftovers, and you can stay here for the night."

"Thank you so much, Master Katara." Akina bowed respectfully before following everyone else inside. In the dinning room, we talked about our origins, it reminded me of the times when Asami, Bolin, and Korra joined us for dinner. Even though we all just kinda met, there was a sense of family in the room, it felt good to have that feeling back. Ever since Dad died, things have been kinda awkward, Mom had decided to help Rohan in the Southern Temple with the Airbenders there, so Gran-Gran stayed here with me in Republic City.

When it was time to go to bed, I passed Cheryl's room. I quickly took a peek inside her room, she was still sound asleep, but she looked like there was having another nightmare. I quietly went into her room, and then rubbed her back in circles to calm her in her sleep. I smiled, it seemed to help the girl. Her breathing began to returned to a steady pace and she wasn't sweating as much. I patted her on the back before leaving to go to my own room.

Cheryl's POV:

After falling asleep on Katara, I had the same nightmare, except this time it seemed more urgent, and more painful. 'Give in, Avatar. You are weak and I am stronger than ever. The Avatar isn't needed anymore.' No, the world needs the Avatar. But even I could hear the doubt in my voice. Eventually I couldn't take the burdening feeling, curled up into a ball, closed my ears using my hands and screamed.

I opened my eyes violently, this time I was in the Island, but I was in the same position as I left the dream world. I took deep breathes to calm myself down. I hope I hadn't woke up anyone. I recalled the dream again, and shivered. Is Korra trying to contact me? Do I get to meet her in that temple during the Winter Solstice? Maybe I can get answers, the Solstice was about 3-4 weeks away, hopefully I can survive the nightmares by then. My door creaked opened, and Akina came in.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"Spirits." she simply replied and took a handkerchief from her nightgown and wiped my cheeks. I touched them again, and they were wet. Had I been crying in my sleep? After wiping them, Akina gave me a big tight hug.

"Don't scare me like that again," she said in a worried tone. "I'm so glad you're safe. Thank spirits." I gave no reply, she knows that I like to get fresh air, alone. She then patted my hair.

"I'm here for you if you need anything. You can tell me," I simply remained silent.

She chuckled. "Stubborn as usual. Being strong doesn't always mean holding back your true feelings. I know you only tell me some of them." Tears slowly came down my face this time, only it was me this time. What she said was true, I didn't want to burden others with my problems. I was so scared as to what was going to happen next. I have had the feeling that peace wasn't going to stay and it just made me more worried then ever. However, as the Avatar, I had to be strong for others. I tried to wipe the tears, but with Akina hugging me, my arms were pinned to my sides. When she let go, I stretched my arms.

"I'm fine, also I need to go to the South Pole." I said cheerfully to cover up my true feelings. She gave me a raised brow, sighed and shook her head back and fourth.

"What?"

"Don't pile it up. I'm here to talk if you need anything." She sat then at next to me in my bed, placed her arms over my shoulder and made me lean on her shoulder like the way my mom used to when I was 3.

"Don't worry about the South Pole, I'll ask Katara." she said softly before gently singing a lullaby.

"Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed..."

Branyt's POV:

I had gotten up a little later then usual, which was surprising since Master Jinora would usually poke me awake if I slept longer. I quickly dressed into my airbending training uniform and went to the kitchen to grab some bread before heading outside to the training grounds.

"We can take the sky bison if you want to go secretly. But I will have to alert the Fire Lord and Irwin on the current situation before we can go." I heard Master Jinora say.

"Where are you guys going?" I asked. Cheryl, Akina, Sean, Lily, Bolin, Master Katara and Jinora were standing by the training grounds talking and seemed startled by my sudden appearance. Master Jinora opened her mouth to reply to my question but stopped herself. They all looked to random directions and seemed hesitant to tell me. Katara was the only one that looked at me in the eye, her own eyes seemed to have twinkled for a sec.

"Cheryl, why don't you bring your old friend Branyt with you. You guys haven't talked in ages." Cheryl nodded.

"Ok. We'll talk on the ride there. But pack essentials with you, and be ready by noon." Her voice was in such a serious and hard tone, I flinched. Then everyone dispersed. Akina passed by me and placed her hand on my shoulder. She gave me a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, she's just... nervous. She's still the girl you know. Just be patient." She said before leaving to the girl's dorms.

Nervous? Depressed? I wanted to yell at Cheryl for acting this way. What was with her? It was only 2 weeks since I last contacted her, and suddenly her personality completely changed. She wasn't the fun-loving girl I knew anymore. She was either all sad or all serious. Hopefully I'll get answers on the ride. I then went to my room to pack what was needed.

Around noon after lunch we hopped onto the two bison. Katara, Cheryl,an female air acolyte, and me were on a bison named Alex. Lily, Sean, Akina, Jinora, and a male air acolyte were on the other. Sona, whined. Cheryl waved good bye. Apparently, Sona had to take the a ship that was going to pick up the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe too, and that we were all going to reach the Southern Water Tribe in about 2-3 days. The Air acolyte drove the bison and yelled 'Yip, Yip'. I watched Air Temple Island grow smaller until it was nothing. I turned my attention to Cheryl, she was being awfully quiet. I decided to break the silence.

"Why did you change all of the sudden?" I asked her annoyingly. I immediately regretted talking in a harsh tone when I saw her hurt face and she turned away. I stared back at the ground.

"I'm sorry that I'm being so assertive," I said in a softer tone. I turned Cheryl to have her facing me again. "Forgive me?"

"It's not your fault. I'm the one who is sorry. A lot happened so quickly," hugged her arms and bit her lip. "And I'm still adjusting" I nodded, wanting her to continue her story.

"You can tell me know." She took a deep breath and nodded.

"I found out that I'm the Avatar." she produced a flame to prove her statement.

"After that I was sent to the Fire Nation to train, but when I went to get some fresh air, spirits brought me to Air Temple Island. I then had a bunch of weird dreams about the Red Lotus. Jinora later told me about them, they tried to end the Avatar Cycle during Korra's time. But failed. Akina said they are after me again." I clenched my hands into fists, how dare they want to kill Cheryl. She is such a kind person.

"But I want answers from Korra, so I am going to try talk to her on Winter Solstice in her temple." Cheryl finished her story. I studied her face.

"You're still holding back." I replied. Her face expression softened.

"I know."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"You're always holding back. Don't think that by not telling us, you won't burden us. Seeing you bottle up your true feelings only makes me feel more anxious."

"Branyt..." I sighed and ruffled my hair, I knew from past experience that it was going to be hard to say what truly was bothering her. She gave me that tired smile again. And idea popped into my head! I opened my bag and placed chopsticks in my mouth, making me look like a walrus. Cheryl laughed at my attempt to cheer her up.

I smiled and took the chopsticks out of my mouth. It was nice to hear her normal self after such a long time apart. Akina was right, it was going to take time to get our friendship back. After talking about what happened so far that we didn't speak of in our letters, I felt like we were best buds again, just like the old times. When the sun was setting, Cheryl started to get sleepy. She wanted to continue talking, but eventually the sleep caught up to her. At first it was kinda weird having her sleeping on my left shoulder, but I got used to it. Katara gave me a blanket to put on Cheryl and we both watched her sleep peacefully.

"She looks so much relaxed then before." I said. Katara nodded.

"It was nice to have you make her feel like herself and not the Avatar...I'm sure she'll remember these moments."

"Being the Avatar is such a big job. How do they handle it when they are kids?"

"They are not suppose to know until 16. But in some cases, they are told earlier. I fear that Cheryl is not really that accepting of her new proposed role." She studied the sky. I readjusted the blanket and put a protective arm around Cheryl to keep her from shivering.

"Aang was 12 when he had to save the world. Most of the time he preferred playing around. But the people kept calling for him, for the Avatar to bring balance to the world. He did, but lost his childhood." She sighed.

"I think that Cheryl knows her role, and will try her best. But I don't think she is liking it much." Katara brushed some hair off Cheryl's face.

When the sun was nearly down, we stopped in the middle of an forest somewhere in the Earth Kingdom area. Sean, Akina, and the air acolytes are already gotten off their sky bison. Lily was about to get down too until noticed Cheryl sleeping on me.

"Awww. You guys look cute together." Lily said loudly. Everyone looked at me. I felt my cheeks burn up a little. I saw Akina and Katara share a smile.

"Lily dear. Why don't you help Sean gather Firewood?" Akina said gently as she helped Lily down.

"Ok!" she said cheerfully before tugging her older brother into the forest. I looked back at Cheryl, I didn't want to wake her up, so I placed her into my arms bridal style, and slid down the bison's tail. I then gently placed her by the unready camp fire. Looks like its going to be a harder journey then I thought.

Mako's POV:

I was babysitting my two twin grandchildren today and serving as an interim Southern Water Tribe Chief until my son, Irwin, came back. And believe me, doing both at the same time was hard work. I sighed and looked out the Palace window and into the dock. I felt a tug on my right sleeve and looked down. It was my 5 year old granddaughter, Ivy.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! When is Daddy coming home?"

"He'll come back soon. Why don't you play with your brother Alex for now? Spar a little."

"Ok!" She said cheerfully before leaving to go to the court yard.

"But don't melt too many things!" I shouted at her. She simply smiled back at me and laughed. I shook my head, I had a feeling she wasn't going to listen. Hopefully, she won't melt one of the building walls with her fire bending, again. RING! RING! RING! I quickly picked up the phone.

"This is Mako, interim Southern Water Tribe speaking. Who is on the other line?" I asked politely.

"Hey Dad! It's me, Irwin!"

"Hey, kiddo. Why did you call?"

"The Avatar and me are going to head back to our home. The Red Lotus are back." Irwin said worriedly. I felt my blood boil at that name

"We're getting there in about 2-3 days. Can you get an extra place ready for her friends? Uncle Bolin, Katara, and Jinora are coming too. I made sure the Fire Lord is safe, hopefully we'll be more prepared this time."

"Yeah, I'll get the place ready. Be safe okay?"

"Thanks Dad. See you soon." I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. I was still getting used to Korra not being here with me, I'm not sure if I could … handle seeing the new Avatar. Toughen up , Mako, its been already 15 years, you can handle it. Man, I hated the battle in my head. I'll just have to see what this new Avatar was like and provide as much support to Korra' reincarnation.

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**Once again, if you want Lily's POV, PM me or add a review saying that you want her viewpoint. Please also review on this chapter. Hope you guys have a nice 4 day weekend! (I'm not sure if you guys have it, but I do, so I will be able to get more writing done.) =D After re-reading this, I noticed I barely put Sean and Lily talking, oops.**


	8. Discussions

**So...I wrote part of this some time ago when I posted the 7th chapter. I had an idea for chapter 9 and wrote it before this chapter, so I'm not sure if you guys wanted Lily's POV in here or not. Man, writing in different perspectives is hard. I wanted to write my sarcastic comments so badly! Lily's POV is especially hard to convey. Please review!**

**And sorry that this took a bit longer than usual, but I got so hyped up by the Book 4 trailer and episode 1. Toph coming back and everything that it was hard to concentrate on my own fanfiction. I can't believe book 4 has the setting at 3 years later?! There seems to be so much action, I don't think that Makorra, or any romance can be packed in. Korra seems emotionally broken down, I hope she gets back to her normal self soon. Hopefully we see Toph the next episode, since like at the end of episode 1 we see Korra's back eye. Also, Korra had a black eye, meeting Toph. So yeah.**

**HW is increasing so I don't get to type as much. Sorry for taking so long to update. XD**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 8: Discussions

Cheryl's POV:

For some reason, I didn't have any nightmares last night. Just felt...protected, safe,secure. I woke up with an arm around my shoulders. I looked to left, it was a sleeping Branyt. Was he trying to protect me or something? I carefully put his arm off of me and sat up.

I looked around. The adults were already up. Jinora was getting the sky bison ride ready. The Air acolytes were packing things up. Bolin was practicing his earth bending. Katara was making soup in the nearby camp fire. She gave me a smile.

"Did you get some rest?" I nodded a yes.

"For the first time, I didn't get any nightmares. It was just this... protected feeling." She nodded.

"You know, Branyt was making sure you didn't catch a cold. It was so sweet of him." I looked back at him, even when he got older, he was still being protective of friends. I placed my blanket on him in gratitude. I went back to staring at Katara making soup.

"What can I do to help?"

"Not much, Cheryl. We're leaving after we eat. Why don't you just enjoy the scenery around us until it's breakfast time?"

"Ok."

Lily's POV: **[A/N- There you go folks! :)]**

When I woke up, I found Cheryl staring into space. I quietly got out of my sleeping bag and sneaked up behind her. I then playfully pounced on her back. We both ended up on the ground laughing.

"Lily!" She groaned from the sudden fall. I giggled. It was fun surprising others.

"What are you doing up so early? I thought you sleeping like the others."

"Well, I thought the same." I replied with a grin. I then found myself following Cheryl into the deep green forest.

I then heard the sound of water, and we ran to the sound. It was a small stream. There were even stepping stones to cross the river. I took off my shoes and placed them into the cool water, it only went up a few inches below my knee. Cheryl grinned and did the same. We splashed each other with water resulting in getting drenched.

"Hey, Cheryl."

"Yeah?" She replied as she tried to dry her hair.

"Do you like your life?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.

"Why do you ask that?"

"I mean isn't it hard having the burden of the world on you?" Her eyes seemed to sadden, but then turned all perky. I wondered if I was bringing out turmoil, I hoped not.

"But you like being around us right?" I said quickly to change the mood. She gave me a gentle smile.

"Yeah." I stared deeply into the stream.

"You know, I haven't really had this kind of fun in quite some time. Sean is serious most of the time, and even though I do have a couple of true friends in Royal Academy, some people just want to be friends with the fire lord's daughter." I specifically quoted around fire lord's daughter. She gave me a hug, which was sudden. Then gave me a pat on the head.

"Well, I like you just the way you are. Playful, hyper, Lily." I smiled at the comment, the only time I remembered hearing similar words were when Mom hanged out with me near the pond.

"Hmmmm, We should probably get back." She said after looking at how high the sun had risen.

"Awwwwww. But we were just starting to get to know each other!" I pouted. She sighed and she gently pulled me up to standing position. It was mysterious on how she had great strength, yet her touch was gentle. She created a flame in her palm to light up the way back to camp. I clutched to her right arm, but she didn't seem to mind.

"You know, I like you as an older sister." She gave me a puzzled look.

"Isn't Akina the older sister type?"

"Nah, she's more like a mom in my opinion. But just because I like you as an older sister doesn't mean I want you with my older brother. He's too grumpy for you. You should be with Branyt, he's nicer and you look cute with him."

"Cute?"

"Well, you two look good togeth-" Cheryl covers my mouth before letting me finish. I turned to my right, looks like we reached camp. Wow. That was fast.

"Where were you two?" my brother asked.

"And why are you drenched?" Akina asked.

"We played by a nearby river." I replied cheerfully. Katara chuckled. Akina simply shook her head back and fourth.

"Come on, you two. Lets get you dried up." Akina gestured to one end of the camp site and water bent the liquid out of our clothing and hair.

"Shouldn't you be training, Avatar Cheryl?" My brother had a stern face on. Way to be a downer. He just had to focus on 'work' only.

"Well, I didn't have anyone ready to teach me firebending when I woke up." I was surprised to hear her voice in such gentle tone. It was natural, but wasn't said mockingly. If it was me, I would have been pissed off. How does she keep her cool? My brother shrugged.

"It's called waking others." I see Akina give him a death glare. He instantly backs down in the argument and walks away. I see Cheryl hiding back a grin, it was nice to see her loosen up. Back during training she seemed so tense.

"Think you can get your brother to teach me fire bending later in the Southern Water Tribe?" She turns to ask me.

"Sure." I hear jogging footsteps behind us, and see Branyt running towards Cheryl.

"Where have you been?!" He shouts worriedly. Cheryl lets out a bug sigh.

"You know I like going on my own."

"But you could have been kidnapped!"

"I had Lily."

"Still, you shouldn't go off." I hurried off to Katara who had breakfast ready.

"Shouldn't you stop their fighting?" She asked me as I sat down to eat.

"But they are fighting like a couple. I don't want to ruin the moment." Katara chuckled. And placed her hand on my right shoulder.

"The time for that will be decided for the future, but for now we need to eat!" She said heartily. I blinked twice and tilted my head out of confusion. She then called everyone else over. We had a pretty good soup for breakfast and after that we had to take off again. It was weird how the times felt so good, yet there was the feeling that something worse was around the corner...

3 days later... **[A/N: I know, time gaps are bad.]**

Akina's POV:

It had been 3-4 days since we left Republic City. Along the pit stops to the Southern Water Tribe, Lily got Sean to teach Cheryl some firebending. She had to learn the elements fast, like Aang, except this time we couldn't plan things out. Who knew if the Red Lotus suddenly appeared and took her away from her? A chill went up my spine thinking about it.

I looked at Cheryl, her face seemed relaxed, but I knew better than anyone that her acting skills were superber and she was only covering up her fear for the sake of others.

"Alright guys, we're about the reach the capital city of the Southern Water Tribe." said Jinora as she looked into the horizon. We could see a strip of land, and slowly it got bigger.

As we flew by the docks, I noted the architecture. The temples and building were beautifully carved and everything was in an orderly pattern. The crystal blue sea helped to further the beauty of the surroundings. As we landed, I noticed an old man with a red scarf older then Bolin approach our bison. He had a neutral face, but his eyes expressed sadness. Irwin is also there, looks like he beat us to the Tribe. We all slide down the bison, and greeted Irwin.

"

Mako!" Bolin shouted happily and gives the old man a hug. The man chuckles before returning it. So this is Mako, Bolin had told us about his older brother on the trip here. And Bolin's claims were true, he did seem wise. Mako gestures to Katara and Jinora.

"Nice to see you again, Master Katara and Jinora." They both nod. Katara then gently pushes Cheryl forward. Cheryl gives a scared look to Katara, but Katara simply nods. Cheryl extends her hand and talks in a hesitant yet cheerful manner.

"Hello, I'm Cheryl. Nice to meet you Mako." His eyes widen, but he still shakes her hand politely. Mako looked to Irwin, and Irwin nodded back. He sighed.

"Nice to meet you too, Cheryl."

"Dad!" We heard two young voices scream joyfully, and we peeked behind them. It was a 5 year old girl and a 5 year old boy. Irwin picks up the boy and tickles him. The girl stands beside his grandfather.

"Is that the Avatar, Gramps?" She asks curiously. The girl points to Cheryl.

"Yup." Mako replies without any emotion. The girl rushes to Cheryl.

"Bend for me!" Cheryl scratches her head.

"Ummm...ok" Cheryl creates a flame in her right hand and a tiny air tornado in her left. I notice Mako studying Cheryl's behavior. I wonder if he is comparing Avatar Korra to Cheryl.

"Cool!" The boy said from her father's arms and squirms to get out of his dad's grip in order to get a better view.

"This is Ivy, and this is Alex. Their my children. Ivy is a firebender, while Alex is a waterbender." Irwin said as he lets Alex down to the ground. Alex frowns when he realizes that Cheryl had already stopped bending the two elements.

"Play with us! Play with us!" Ivy jumps up and down, then pulls Cheryl away to some new kid adventure. She gives us a hopeless grin before being out of sight due to twins.

Meanwhile, Jinora introduces the rest of us to Mako.

Cheryl's POV:

Playing with the twins were fun, but soon it was dinner time and the two seemed exhausted from their sudden play day with me. We got to know our rooms before entering the dinning area.

In dinner time we discussed what was going on so far, the adults knew that the Red Lotus had threaten innocent people before to get to Korra. Who knows what are they going to target next? I sighed, the title Avatar held so much. So many people already expect greatness from me, just like my past lives.

I picked at my food, and began thinking about the future. They had tried to kill Korra through poison. Wouldn't history repeat itself though? Was I going to end up depressed? In a wheelchair? I slapped my face to get back to reality. Nothing happened yet, Cheryl. Stay calm. I began to focus on the conversation.

Midway through it though, I spaced out. I didn't really see the point of formulating a plan to protect me, when eventually I am going to face them. Them... a new view suddenly appears. More like a flashback, I see Korra and the gang in this airship in the mountains.

"The world has been out of balance for far too long; it needs the Air Nation back again. I can't let Zaheer destroy it and everyone we love. Help me save the airbenders, then you can worry about saving me." I hear Korra say before returning to reality.

"Cheryl? Were you listening?" I hear Mako say. I shake my head to focus on the real conversion.

"Huh? I'm sorry, what? I wasn't really listening." He sighs. And lets Irwin take over in the talk.

"Cheryl, as the Avatar, you need to understand the current situation. So pay attention."

"What's the point anyway? If I am bound to meet the Red Lotus, shouldn't I meet with them before they threaten others?" I stand up.

"You're not ready yet. You only mastered Earth and know some firebending." Branyt said to intervene with my argument.

"But even if I do get stronger, won't the Red Lotus get more supporters too? And we need to take action before they kidnap others like what they did to the Air Nation." I notice my voice was shaking and rising in tone.

"Cheryl! The Avatar needs to keep balance in the world, if the Red Lotus succeeds in doing that, there won't be any peace." Irwin's voice ripples through the room and grabs everyone's attention. Thus, stopping them from eating. I bury my face into my hands, and then uncover them.

"I'm sorry." I whisper, but it seemed to be loud enough for everyone to hear; I rush out of the dinning hall in up the stairs and into my bedroom.

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**Sorry that this one was shorter. I did the next chapter before this one, so I didn't know that chapter 8 was going to be this short. Updates will take longer cause of school work, but I will try my best to get it online as fast as possible. Please review!**


	9. Runaway

**After reading the previous chapter, I realized that I had missed inputting two somewhat important characters. Sorry! XD I also realized I don't often put dialogue for Sean and Lily. I decided to change Sean's characteristics for the sake of the story, so don't be too surprised. I have a feeling you guys might dislike him though.**

**Sorry about the wait, but this is going to be how long you have to wait for each chapter. High School is so much work, especially when you are just getting used to it. I don't think I can post every week.I don't know. Just have to see. Hope you enjoy this chapter! And please review!**

**I don't own Avatar Last Airbender nor Legend of Korra, and I did most of this before season 4. I can't wait for more Korra episodes! I wonder how Toph is going to help Korra.**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 9: Runaway

Mako's POV:

By the sound of thumping, we could tell she went upstairs. Most likely her room, only the guest rooms are up on the second floor. Branyt stood up to go after her, but Akina shook her head 'no'. I knew what she was thinking. Branyt's concerns contradicted Cheryl's ways, and talking it out between them two would only make the situation worse.

I decided to check her out, just in case. I mean when Korra, and Aang had emotional concerns they went AWOL. What if the same thing happened to Cheryl? Her last sentence before leaving the dinner table 'I'm sorry' concerned me. Was she abandoning her job? I hoped not, I knew the world needed their Avatar. In both Korra's and Aang's time, when they were gone, power hungry people had taken control. We couldn't let that happen again.

When I got to the top of the stairway, I heard faint sobbing coming from Cheryl's room. I took a deep breath before making the action of knocking the door and going in.

Cheryl's POV:

I ran to my room after the 'talk'. Tears were threatening to fall from frustration, so I quickly went to the balcony to relieve myself. The breeze from the balcony usually helped.

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, but in the end I did.

I knew that my friends wanted to protect me. But I'm the Avatar, I should be the one protecting them. If they got hurt or... even killed trying to keep me safe ….. I could never forgive myself. Everything happened because of this stupid Avatar title, and I'm the Avatar. **( A/N: I know she got violent.)**

Too bad Sona or Fluffy wasn't here, I would usually talk to them about my true fears since they are pets. Tears kept streaming down my face, why couldn't they understand that I'm trying to keep them from harm?

I head a knock, and then the door creaked open. It was Mako, his face was full of empathy but some concern too. Normally, I wouldn't cry in front of others, but something told me it was okay to to when it came to Mako. I looked into the horizon. Mako silently stood next to me, and placed his hand on the rails.

"You know, the Avatar isn't always the all powerful person." He said to break the silence. I continued to remain quiet. Where was he going with this?

"She's human too." I stared at my palm, I had a feeling he was talked to Korra once about this too...the words did seem...somewhat familiar.

"Being strong doesn't always mean keeping in the feelings, it's accepting your flaws and allowing others to help you with the mistakes you make." I simply nodded, the speech was nice. However, it only solved half of my problems, the other half was something I needed to discover myself. I gave him a hug, and a small smile before saying thanks. I then used my acting skills to make me seem that I felt whole from his words in the simple conversation we had next about the adjustment of life. I actually felt the opposite.

When he left, I quickly wrote a note onto my desk. Next, I took a green parka and blue cloak from my closet and put them on. I put on the hood of the cloak to conceal my head. I quickly took a look down from the balcony, about an 10 feet jump to the ground. I took a deep breath and hoped I would do the air cushion correctly. I balanced myself on the rails, and then jumped towards the ground below me.

I spun around to create an air cushion, and managed to create a tiny one, but I twisted my right foot on the landing. I knelled for moment to have the throbbing pain to stop. I think I sprained the ankle, but I had worse before, so I endured the pain. Quickly, I looked from right to left before reaching the palace walls. Each step had pain, but I disregarded it. I then melted part of the ground with my firebending and created a tunnel. When I came out the other end, I leaned against the snowy wall to camouflage with it. Good thing my cloak was blue. I then quickly enhanced my speed with airbending and speed away from the palace walls. My right foot still hurt, but I could endure it for some time. I stopped to catch my breath against a tree on the outskirts of town, and I stared at the black sky filled with stars. It felt so peaceful to be away from everything...just like the old days.

Katara's POV:

Mako had came down saying that Cheryl was alright after his pep talk, and after that they actually had a simple conversation, and she seemed fine. Almost like 100 percent, not too cheerful but not too unhappy.

"You didn't!" I turned my head to Akina's sudden outburst filled with horror.

"Did you leave her to her room alone after that conversation?" She asked next in controlled yet worried tone.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Mako asked confusingly.

"She acts that way when she's going to leave to place for a couple of days instead of the normal few hours!" Akina replied panicking tone. We gave each other shocked expressions before rushing to her room. We found the place empty.

"Where is Cheryl, Daddy?" Alex tugged his father's arm sleeve.

"Is she under the bed?" Ivy adds. The two children check under the sheets, mattress, and frame before giving up.

"_Dear all, I've decided to take a little break._" We all crowded around Lily, who is reading from a paper. I notice Cheryl's signature at the bottom.

"_The solstice isn't here, yet. I need some time on my own. Don't worry about me, I'm be fine. I'm not going AWOL. From, Cheryl._" Lily finished the letter and turned it over to check if there was more, but there wasn't. I hear Akina let out a big sigh, as if this had happened in the past.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Mako apologized. Akina shook her head.

"It's okay. I should have warned you guys first about her acting skills, but I didn't think she would come this decision."

"Acting skills? Like if she is sad, heartbroken, or depressed, she stills seems cheerful, kind and caring to others?" Lily made face expressions as she rambled on with the possibilities. Akina nodded a yes.

"It's because of that, she is able to hide her true feelings easily if she doesn't want others to know. In reality though,she wants comfort from others, but she doesn't want to burden people that aren't directly related to the matter that she is upset about." We all looked down to the ground, Cheryl really put others before her, but to such an extreme lengths that she's hurting herself. I turned to Akina.

"Where would she go?" I asked, Akina knew Cheryl the best out of all of us. Her eyes saddened.

"I don't know. Normally when she goes out for a couple of minutes its a breezy place. But in situations like this, she keeps her mouth shut on the topic. When I ask her, she either ignores what I said, or act all cheerful." I stroked my chin. Was Cheryl's reason for leaving the same as Korra's and Aang's?

"But there is Red Lotus danger out there." We turned to Sean, it was weird hearing his voice since he didn't speak often. The adults nodded.

"But get the kids into bed first, it's getting late." Mako nodded and took the twins to their bedroom. They pouted saying that it wasn't that late, but eventually complied.

"Well, what's our plan then?" Akina asked with despair in her voice. It was like the old times, looking for the Avatar.

"Where's Bolin?" Lily asked out of nowhere. Sean face-palmed himself. While the others all looked at Lily with annoyance, Cheryl was missing and she was worried about Bolin? Bolin was here...with us right? I looked around. Nope, no Bolin.

"Yeah, where is he?" Branyt asked.

"Uncle Bolin's sleeping in his room." Irwin replied.

"Oh." We said in unison.

"Splitting up in twos to search for her would be best." said Sean.

"I could take on bad guys myself!" Lily pouted. Sean patted her head.

"You're a non-bender." He added.

"So? I know chi-blocking, and I'm good with karate and my dagger." Lily pulled out her 3 inch dagger from her belt made fighting movements to demonstrate. Sean still shook his head a 'no'.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Branyt said impatiently.

"What if we don't find Cheryl?" Lily asked worriedly. I sighed, it was true that it was tricky to find the girl. Akina had told me about her past search hunts, and they weren't easy. In the end, the only way they actually 'found' her was when Cheryl came back home by her own will.

"Then we'll look for her in the morning, the daylight will help our search. For now, we search using lamps," Jinora looked over to me "You should stay here, Gran-Gran. You must be tired by now." I nodded, I wanted to help find Cheryl, but I might slow the crew down. Might as well help within the palace.

"Good Luck." I gave Akina a hug before the children took off. It reminded me of the time I let Korra secretly go to Republic City. I slowly went to my bedroom to take a nap, old age doesn't help me any better.

The next morning...

Branyt's POV:

Turns out that we hadn't found Cheryl that night. We looked through alleys, the dock, and even the city. But no luck. I stared out my window, according to Mako, he had talk to Cheryl about expressing concerns, since Cheryl seemed reluctant to receive help. Akina had insisted though, that one of Cheryl's problems were that and had thanked Mako for the advice given to Cheryl. But I couldn't get why she ran away, what else was bothering her? I sighed as I walked down the stairs to the first floor. I found everyone eating breakfast.

"Morning Branyt!" said Jinora cheerfully.

"Morning." I replied back in a grumpy tone. I sat down and started eating waffles **(A/N: I just felt like adding them :p). **That's when I heard the sound of someone rushing into the dinning area.

"Sir! Princess Ivy and Prince Alex, are nowhere to be found." The guard looked like he was getting ready to be yelled at.

"Where could they be?" Irwin stroked his beard.

"They're not playing hide and seek." Sean replied sternly.

"What's that's suppose to mean?!" I replied angrily, I honestly don't get why he is usually in a bad mood. Everyone looked at me with concern, after I my sudden outburst. Sean simply continued on.

"Their grandma's missing." We all blinked confusingly, it took us a couple of moments to fully comprehend what he said. Lily on the other hand, happily ate her food. I don't think she's listening, but that's just her. Could Korra being telling her grandchildren to help bring Cheryl back? Cheryl is spiritually related to the Royal Family according to Akina.

"It's possible. Maybe if we find the kids, we'll find Cheryl." Akina had hope in her voice instead of despair this time.

"Branyt, use this glider," Jinora handed me a glider, "We'll cover the skies this time, the daylight will help us search for the 3." I nodded. Master Jinora used an airbending jumpsuit, but since I wasn't fully trained, I only knew how to use the glider to fly. Though being in the air felt great. After we got our full of food, we split up like last time, only this time we had guards already looking for the kids in the capital city. I seriously wondered how Cheryl escaped police watch in the past. I picked a pretty high cliff that had an overview of the city, then opened the glider. Hopefully we'll find Cheryl soon, before trouble arrives.

Cheryl's POV:

I had slept in an earth tent yesterday around the outskirts of the city. When I had awoke, the sun was already up. I think it's like 9 or 10 in the morning according to the position of the sun. I looked out into the open sea,and took a deep breath of the sea's scent. There was still pain in my foot, but once again I ignored it. I sighed, might as well check out town.

I still had my parka and cloak on, so that help me hide from others and the Red Lotus. I rolled the water tribe money in my parka pocket, I could get some noodles for a meal. I quickly set the earth tent back into the ground and placed my hood on before setting foot onto the town.

I roamed around until I saw this Water Tribe Restaurant that had cheap prices shown on the poster on their window. Might as well try it out. I looked inside, it looked beat down. Wood was chipping off the walls, paint was coming off the ceiling, but the tables and chair looked decent. I sat down on the counter and ordered one bowl of normal water tribe noodles.

While I was eating I noticed from the corner of my eye, a 4 year old boy trying to get something on the top shelf of a bookcase. He was getting frustrated, and kept jumping up and down on his ladder. I went back to eating my noddles when I heard his cry.

"Whoa!" He said as his tall ladder crumpled beneath him, I quickly sprang to action and caught the boy. But as a result, my hood fell off when I rushed to his side. I gently placed him on the ground after catching the boy in my arms.

"Thanks!" He gave me a hug and a toothy smile.

A woman from the within the inner part of the restaurant came rushing out and looked at us.

"Johnny, what happened here? Did you get hurt?" She went over by his side and checked to see if he got any bruises.

"Nope! And it's thanks to this sister over here," He replied in a happy tone and pointed at me "When I was just about to fall on the ground, she caught me in time!" The woman gave me a warm smile.

"Thank you so much for saving him." She bowed to me when saying thanks.

"It was nothing, someone else could have done it too. I just saved him by chance. No need to thank me."

"Come come, I'll give you some tea as thanks." She motioned to the counter. I made a no motion.

"Really, I don't need anything extra."

"Oh come on dear, I already have tea ready and there isn't another customer here anyway. I can't let it go to waste." She justified. I sighed and took a seat.

"Well, then okay." She poured a cup of tea into china and gave it to me. She then studied me.

"You sure are young to be traveling alone. Are you 14? 15 dear?" She asked.

"15." She gave me a concerned look and looked behind me as if wondering if I brought along anyone.

"Why are out here alone? It can be dangerous. Surely, your parents are worried about you. You haven't ran away have you?" I looked at the 4 year old boy, I thought back to my parents in Republic City. If a mom was this concerned with a child that was just under wing, surely my parents would have been even more back in the city. Had I been selfish to leave those that cared about me? Mom and Dad had entrusted me into Irwin's hands...I shook away the thought, I'm the Avatar, I can protect myself. I looked back at the mother, she was patiently waiting for an answer.

"I guess they worried?" Her face softened and she sighed.

"Dear, every parent is worried about their children. We grew to love how they grow up. To see one go is very painful." She waited for the words to soak in. But she didn't know that I was the Avatar, a person capable of becoming the strongest bender in the world. When I didn't respond, she searched through my eyes.

"Why did you run away dear? Stress? Responsibility?" I gave her a shocked look, how did she know? She simply smiled.

"I am a mother too you know." She pulled her child towards her with loving care. I looked down at my palms. My mind was racing as to how to reply back.

"Yeah." She then shifted her arms so they weren't wrapped around her son, instead she lifted my chin gently so that I was staring at her.

"Dear, everyone has conflicts. But if you find the motivation to over come them, it was turn out better. For example, the Avatars-" I instantly payed more attention at the mention of my title.

"Everyone looks up to them for peace and balance. Although many people did get frustrated with them, others have realized that they are just one human too, even if they are all powerful. Now with that much pressure, how do you think they felt? It worse then our situations of poverty if you think about it." I tried hard not to smile at the fact that she didn't know that she was talking to the Avatar herself, but her question was something that I had wanted an answer too; so I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know."

"They all had a motivation, the want to protect, the want to bring justice, the want of bringing balance to world. And their decisions are why we are here like this today, in this era of peace." It was amazing how common people knew so much life, I listened intently. She continued on with her advice.

"That's their drive. If you leave your family now, think about the pain they have. They want to know that you are safe. If the Avatar can handle a bigger package because they have more strength, then regular people can take little packages with their own strength. So please dear, be considerate of the impact you make." I nodded.

"Thank you," I bowed to her and payed her more then needed before taking my leave and waving goodbye to them.

"Come again!" The boy shouted as I left the store. I gave him a warm smile back, before leaving.

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**Yeah, the chapters are shorter now because I don't get as much time to type them. I wanted to do 'Cheryl Alone' as the title but then again not. You'll see why later. And don't worry, I have the ideas in my head already, but it's just the time to type things up. HW is piling up T.T So hope you guys enjoyed this, and please review.**

**Also, here are some great fanmade openings for legend of korra:**

** playlist?list=PLcNZGaw_SsT_oAUQwNs8JBvsTGMcw9Ibr**

**There is a lot of characters so I tend to forget to put dialogue for them, sorry about that too.**


	10. Catching Up

**So hey guys! It's hard to believe that I am only on chapter 10, it feels like 15. XD Please review n thks to those that are following this story and favorite it, it really does help me.**

**I am so sorry, I forgot about Sona and Fluffy in this chapter! Also, did you guys know that the names aren't random? Anaya actually means wise, and the name Akina follows the formula for Water Tribe people.**

**I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender nor Legend of Korra. **

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Book 1: Wondering

Chapter 10: Catching up

Cheryl's POV:

I put my hood back on after leaving the shop.

"Wait!" I turned around to find the 4 year old boy running to catch up with me. When he finally catches up, I kneel down to his level. He gives me a folded piece of paper. I open it, and found a name and a phone number. He points to the name.

"That's my mom's name and her number," he said cheerfully "She said that she feels that you are special in a way and that if you have any concerns to call her." I look at the name, Anaya and smiled.

"Thanks." I give him a pat on the head.

"You never gave us your name."

"Cheryl," I say while smiling "And don't worry, you'll see me again soon enough."

"Really?!" He jumps up and down in excitement.

"For now, be careful okay?" He nods, I stand up and get ready to leave, but he clasps onto my sleeve.

"Promise?" He gives me pleading eyes. I look towards the ground, who know if I make it through my ordeal? I close my eyes, when I give him a yes. He lets go of me when I give him the confirmation.

"Bye." I say and walk towards the docks. Then carefully tucked the paper into my pocket.

"Bye Cheryl! I'll miss you!" Johnny gives me the toothy smile again from when I rescued him as I walk away.

As I walk through the streets of the Water Tribe, I realize how connected as a community they are. It reminds of the time Roger told me about the elements. 'The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.' I smile at the thought of everyone else, I hope they are doing okay.

I continue walking to shore, eventually reaching a spot that had shallow water, and there wasn't any people there either. I take the shoe off of my right foot, and dip the foot into the frigid cold water. It was similar to placing ice on it. I then place my hands near the spot where it sprained to keep my foot steady,focusing on the coolness of the icy water to get rid of the pain. Next thing I knew, the water nearby my foot started glowing a little, and the pain was gone. I take my limbs out of the water, and shake my foot to find any pain. Surprisingly, no pain in walking.

I stared at my palms, was I a healer? ' The motivation to protect others' I hear Anaya's words echoing. I think I finally understand a bit more. I was scared to have so much power and responsibility, but with this power I could help others. I smile staring into the sky, I finally comprehended part of my duties, Korra. I then placed my shoe back on and walked back to the city to explore more places.

I notice two airbenders in the sky, one using a glider, the other using a jumpsuit. The one with the glider is closer to my location though, and by squinting I could see that it was Branyt. I lower my gaze to the ground, hoping I wouldn't be noticed.

I had learned more about myself while out here, and I had this feeling of adventure going on. It felt nice to have … freedom. I am continue walking through the streets, when I hear two children voices calling out my name. They sounded like … Ivy and Alex. I take a deep breath in, hoping it wasn't them. If it was them, hopefully they would just pass by.

"Cheryl!" I hear the kids cry joyously and felt myself get squeezed to death. I turn around, finding Ivy and Alex giving me smiles. How did they find me?

"Grandma said in our dreams that you ran away, and we had to find you!" Alex gives me sad eyes. Grandma? Did … Korra?

"But we found you now! Yay!"

"Why are you hiding?" Ivy asks. I pull down my hood, and sighed. No point in hiding now, they probably will call the others anyway. And as expected, Ivy makes a bunch of fire jabs into the air to signal for someone.

I was about to explain, when I started to feel dizzy. I leaned against a nearby wall and clutched my head. My vision started to blur too, and I felt my self falling backwards, but then strong arms caught me from behind.

"Branyt!" The twins cried happily. Branyt? How had … ? But before I had a chance to fully respond, darkness took over.

Branyt's POV:

I was roaming the skies, at first I had no luck. But then I saw the twins with a taller female figure with them. I landed nearby, and watched from a corner turn that was just behind the female.

"Why are you hiding?" Ivy asked. The girl sighed, and pulled down her hood. I titled my head to get a better view of the girl. It was Cheryl! I wanted to go to them, but I was hesitant. She had ran away from all off us before, why would she want to see me now? I silently watched as Ivy made fire jabs into the air, is that a signal to their father?

I continued watching them, but I noticed Cheryl swaying and then falling backwards. I quickly sprang into action, and caught her from behind.

"Branyt!" The kids cried as they saw me catch Cheryl. I looked at her, her eyes were closed now. She must have been exhausted or something. I then shifted her, so she was on me in piggy back position. A few seconds after we were moving, everyone else found us. Akina looked so relieved to see Cheryl peacefully sleeping on me. When we got to the palace, Mako and Bolin welcomed us back.

"Why did you guys run off like that?" Mako scolded the twins.

"But grandpa, grandma said so. She came to our dreams." Ivy protested. Mako's expressions softened a bit, but still had a stern face on.

"Grandma Korra said to look for Cheryl, and that our instincts will guide. She also said that she'll lead Cheryl to us too." Alex finished.

"It's true," I added, everyone looked at me. "If it wasn't for them, I would have never found Cheryl." They nodded.

"How did the search go?" Katara said as she came downstairs. She noticed the twins, and then Cheryl on my back. And gave me a warm smile. Cheryl was still knocked out though.

Mako helped me up the stairs and into Cheryl's room. I carefully placed her on her bed, and put the blanket on her. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Mako smiling at me.

"What?" He shook his head.

"Nothing." Then left. I grabbed a nearby chair and sat next to Cheryl's bed. I wonder what did she go through while out there.

Jinora's POV:

While Branyt and Mako helped Cheryl, the rest of us gathered in the living room.

"What of now?" asked Bolin as he stretched.

"Learning the elements would be the best option. I don't think Cheryl wants to hide forever, and we already know of the consequences." said Gran-Gran. We all nodded, we didn't want a repeat of history.

"But what if Cheryl runs away again?" Lily piped in.

"I don't think that will happen," Gran-Gran gave everyone a reassuring statement "Being alone for some time can give you some insight, Cheryl is a different person now." Akina looked unsure, but we all knew that Gran-Gran was the most wise out of all of us. Plus, she had helped Aang and Korra during their emotional times. Mako then appeared in the room.

"Where's Branyt?" Lily asked curiously.

"He's with Cheryl, I think he's gonna wait for her to wake up." He replied. We all nodded in understanding. Our little Branyt acted differently with Cheryl around, and we all could tell.

"Shouldn't we worry more about the Red Lotus' plans along with the Earth Queens'?" Sean interrupted the moment of silence. Though he seemed to knock the important parts into our minds whenever he spoke.

"But the Earth Queen hasn't made her move yet, should we be concerned with her? We already have the Red Lotus after Cheryl." Akina said worriedly.

"But its rare to have both movements at once, we should keep an eye on her just in case. However, what disturbs me is the fact that if what Korra said is true, why hasn't the Queen advanced her plans?" Sean added. I notice my Gran-Gran going up the stairs.

"I going to check up on Cheryl." she said before disappearing up the stairs. We continued talking about the politics.

Cheryl's POV:

When I awoke I found myself feeling light, mentally and physically. I opened my eyes, finding nothing around me, only the color white. There was no distance, no depth, but I wasn't falling.

"Hello? Anybody here?" I called out. There was no response, I sighed and tried to use seismic sense, but nothing happened. I then tried to produce a flame in my palm, but the same result. Weird.

I then felt someone tap me on my shoulder. I turned around and found a 30 year old Korra looking at me.

"Korra, where am I?" Is what I though I said, but no words came out. She shushed me by placing a finger on my lip and pointed to an image of the spirit portal behind her. Gave me a warm smile,and then a hug. I felt all my true feelings and emotions crash upon me like a tidal wave, and all I could do was cry. When she let go, the feelings lingered away. She then slowly faded away into the white background.

"Wait!" I cried after her, but a flash later blinded me. I fluttered my eyes open, and found a concerned Branyt and Katara sitting next to me. I groaned while trying to sit up. Then touched my head.

"What happened?" I asked. I then got a surprise hug from Branyt, he held my head to his chest, and protectively embraced me.

"I was so worried." He said in softer tone. He then let go, and blushed at realizing that he had hugged me out of nowhere, or at least that's what I think. Katara then gave me a hug and ruffled my my long black hair.

"Glad to have you back. You have a lot to do." She said in a wise yet caring manner. I nodded, I thought back to my newest encounter with Korra, should I tell them? But its Avatar business. 'Being strong is allowing others to help you.' I sighed and making the decision to tell them.

"I need to go to the spirit world, Korra wants to talk to me." I say abruptly. Branyt gives me a troubled look.

"You just woke up after being unconscious, and already you are heading out?! Think about you health, Cheryl!" He gives me a stern look. I slap my head with my right hand, here we go again.

"I'm fine, besides time is scarce with the Red Lotus around. The world is going to be in trouble." I get up, but found myself still dizzy and swaying. I was just about to fall forwards when Branyt catches me again. He sighs, and props up the pillows so when he lays me down, I'm still sitting up.

"Cheryl!" I turn my head to find the twins hurling into my room. They run over to my bed, climbs onto it, and sit next to me. I give each a hug, it was nice having bundles of joy around.

"Did you miss us? Did you miss us?" Ivy asks excitedly. I chuckle, and nod a yes.

"Yeah." I answered in my usual gentle tone.

"Why did you leave?"

I yawned, feeling my energy slipping away just as I answer their question. But I didn't want to disappoint the kids by drifting off to sleep. Katara noticed me fighting to keep awake.

"Now, now, Cheryl needs her sleep, why don't you hang out with Lily, Sean, Akina, they can teach you some new bending techniques."

"Awwwww." The two whined but obliged. I gave Katara a thankful smile before she lead the kids out of the room. Then slowly drifted off to sleep.

Earth Queen's POV:

Those ignorant Red Lotus members had promised me to get rid of the Avatar during my coronation. It was also the day that my stupid older brother had died, thus giving me the throne. He even dared to make friends with the Republic City President.

Our Great-Aunt Hou-Ting had specifically told us of how she hated the United Republic of Nations, because of it used to be Earth Kingdom territory. She had wanted to take it back along with the Fire Nation as revenge for the the Avatar and Fire Lord's decision 2 generations ago.

Thank goddess, I kept my logic straight. But I was afraid that even if I did win the war, years later, the new Avatar would reclaim it. So the Red Lotus made a compromise with us, they would get rid of the Avatar and its cycle in exchange for supplies.

The new Avatar must be what, 15? 16? By now, why won't she show her face already! I was getting frustrated, I had already had battle machines prepared and ready. I called over my adviser. He quickly came by my side and bowed.

"Yes, your majesty." His voice in a wimpy tone. I snorted, what's with these people. I can barely hear them.

"What's with the update on the Red Lotus?" I ask sternly. He cringes under my tone before responding. Such a scardy cat.

"The Red Lotus have believed to have found the Avatar in the Fire Nation, but have lost her."

"Believed?! So they haven't confirm the person yet?!"

"No Your Majesty." I sighed and leaned on my throne's arm, I was growing impatient.

"Tell them to hurry up!" He sighed, but I gave him a glare thus silencing the old geezer. I breathed in and out steadily, patience is the key.

Irwin's POV:

I stared out into the open sea, Cheryl had safely returned home, but I was still uptight. She was lucky this time, but I was worried as to the future danger she would have to meet. How did the previous Avatar handle things so amazingly? My thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Hello?" I answered.

"May we speak with Chief Irwin?"

"Thus is Chief Irwin, what business do you have?"

"We are the White Lotus, Sir. And from our insiders, we have discovered hidden battleships within the Earth Kingdom's castle. Please notify the Avatar, and form compromises with the other nations with the current situation."

"Thank you." I replied and hung up.

I sighed, talking to the rulers was one thing. However, getting Cheryl into this was another. She was still resting a bit, and from what Katara heard, mom had asked for Cheryl in the Spirit World. In addition, we had told Cheryl's family that we would protect Cheryl to the best of our abilities, bringing her to the meeting could be trouble. You never knew if the guards could be spies. Only the few trusted ones in my castle knew of the Avatar's presence and had swear not to tell others. I walked into the living room, finding no one there. I walked outside to the courtyard, and found all of them were either playing with the elements or just watching.

"Dad!" Alex ran up to me smiling with Akina right behind him. He jumped up and down.

"Guess what, Guess what?" I chuckled and kneel down to his level and ruffled his hair.

"Akina taught me how to heal!" I smiled.

"I'm so proud of you." I give him a hug and he smiles back.

I notice Akina staring worriedly at a specific spot on palace. I trace her line of vision to the balcony of Cheryl's room.

"She'll be fine. She's strong right?" Akina nods and goes back to the others with Alex. I sit next to Katara who is on a nearby bench. She stares at everyone with pride.

"Times sure have changed right, Master Katara?"

"Yes it has Irwin."

Oka's POV:

It had been nearly 50 years, 50 years since my mother died. 50 years since my father got trapped in a prison again. 10 years since I learn of my destiny, to end the Avatar Cycle along side the Red Lotus. I stare at a billboard filled with plans on every situation possible if we encountered the Avatar. I hear someone knock my door.

"Come in."

"The Avatar's location has yet to be found." I don't turn around to face my subordinates.

"Then continue looking for her, until you have searched every inch of the world."

"Yes, mam" I clench my jaw, she's been able to hide from us all these years, but revenge will finally be mine soon.

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**So yeah, sorry about the wait, but this will be the amount of time for pretty much every chapter. Also Oka means bloom, try to figure out the connection. Hope you guys like this chapter and please review.**


	11. Fork

**I am having a writer's block, sorry for the wait. And yes, HW is also affecting me. I have test after test after test. Ugh! Plus volunteering work, studying, clubs. Man, High School is hard! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review. I really need the support since I am considering holding this off for quite some time due to the recent amount of school work, but if I know that you like this, I'll try my best to continue it since I love writing fanfics, they help me relax.**

**Should look like at this fanmade opening it actually made me cry: /**

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**watch?v=tteoqz3IMtY**

Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 11: Fork

Kelina's POV:

I looked out into the water. The capital city of the Southern Water Tribe growing bigger. After having spent some time negotiating with the Republic City President, Raiko Jr. about the recent case my husband sent me about the Earth Kingdom, I was finally able to come back home.

Being the wife of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe isn't all that easy, I had to leave the kids behind. I hoped that they didn't trash the halls. When the ship got to the dock, I carefully stepped out with my luggage.

I noticed a huge badger mole and a hamster-rat accompanied by a White Lotus Sentry getting off too, which brought me confusion. I was told that they wasn't very fond with animals.

The male sentry noticed me staring, quickly went up to me with the animals being dragged by reins and bowed.

"Kelina, wife of Cheif Irwin correct?" He asked me. I nodded. He handed me the reins of the animals.

"Please give them to him, they're for his guests. Good day to you mam." Guests? He then left to get back on board one of the boats.

I took the reins off of the animals. Their eyes instantly sparked into life, the badgermole gave me a lick, while the hamster-rat rubbed itself against my cheek and then curled up on my shoulder. I chuckled and hugged the animals back. Patted them, and made gestures to signal for them to follow me.

As I walked through the streets back to the palace, I noticed the badgermole was moving willingly and seemed to study me. When we walked through the palace gates, the badgermole and hamster-rat rushed instantly to the door.

That's when I noticed a bunch of teens along with Katara, Jinora, Irwin, Mako, and Bolin. A 16 year old Water Tribe Girl bravely jumped in front of the huge creature before it could enter. The poor animal tried to enter by leaping and even going from side to side, but each attempt was blocked by waved arms. Eventually it gave up, whimpered and sat down. The girl smiled and gave it a big hug along with soothing words that I couldn't exactly hear.

"Mom!" Alex and Ivy ran to greet me. I gave them each a tight hug, I wondered if they slept well. The others also came too. Irwin gave me a kiss on the forehead to welcome me home. I nodded to Katara and Jinora. And got hugs from Bolin and a handshake from Mako.

"Are you the guests?" I looked to the group of teens while carrying Ivy, boy they are getting heavier.

"Not all of them though." Irwin replied. I raised a brow, I was curious as to who else I was going to meet. He looked around as if they were prying eyes and led me and everyone else inside. Bolin helped me with the bags, while I joined the others in the living room. The teens were already seated, and so were the adults.

"We're responsible for Avatar Cheryl currently." Jinora said to me with a concerned expression.

"Why hasn't the world be notified of this info yet?" I shifted Ivy into my other arm, before waiting for a reply.

"The Red Lotus are back." I felt my breath stop for a second at the name, before returning to normal pace. I had heard from Mako the horrors they had put on my mother-in-law.

"Who currently knows?" My voice turning from a normal merry tone to a serious one.

"Us, some White Lotus members, and some of the guards." Mako replied.

"Where is …. ?" I wasn't sure if the Avatar was a female or male.

"Avatar Cheryl is resting up in one of the guest rooms, with her friend Branyt by her side. This is Lily, Sean, and Akina." Jinora answered. Resting?

"Cheryl kinda ran away." Lily fidgeted with her fingers as she looked at the ground with a worried expression. I placed Ivy down and nodded. An Avatar's job wasn't easy, that could explain the girl's disappearance.

I then heard chatter behind towards the stairs from the animals. The hamster-rat seemed to be scolding the badgermole trying to go up the stairs. I quickly went to their side and comforted the badgermole by repeatedly patting it on the head. It gave me sad eyes, and buried its head into my arms. I smiled at the sight, animals were just as human as us. But I couldn't really understand why it wanted to go upstairs.

"Sona is Cheryl's animal guide." Sean explained. So Sona is the badgermole? Akina sighed and took over comforting the badgermole.

"It's okay, Sona. Cheryl's going to be fine, just be patient." Akina whispered soothingly to the creature. We all watched in silence as it continued whining.

A guard passed by and suddenly Sona started growling at the man. Sona got out of Akina's grip and jumped onto the man, knocking him down. The man tried to get up, but Sona wouldn't allow it. Even the hamster-rat shrieked at the man.

"What's going on?" A gentle, yet strong powerful voice shifted everyone's attention. A 15 year old green-eyed girl with long black hair that went beyond her shoulders with Earth Kingdom attire appeared at the foot of the stairs.

I turned back at the guard, finding his eyes flicker to some kind of unknown emotion for a split second. She eyed the guard suspiciously as if she had a hunch that something was wrong, but gave a brief flash of mercy before approaching the man.

A sudden flash of metal sprang from the guard's coat toward the girl, she dodged it effortlessly and managed to metal bend the sharp knife to a nearby wall. Then quickly made slab shackles that encased the man's body in earth. We all blinked in surprise at the sudden action in a mere seconds that recently passed.

"Take him to the interrogation room!" Irwin ordered two guards to take the man away. The two kids ran to the girl, and gave her hugs. She smiled back to them lovingly and returned the tight hugs.

"Now can you play with us, Cheryl?" Ivy pleaded with puppy eyes. Cheryl? I looked at the tired eyed girl, she had a certain aura around her that was commanding, yet I had a feeling she actually was really kind. Well, an Avatar was like that. She seemed hesitant, but nevertheless she nodded a yes.

"Sure." Her voice carried off gently like the wind, which surprised me since Earthbenders are known to be … different.

Alex and Ivy practically dragged her into the courtyard. I found myself breathless, so this is the reincarnation of the mother-in-law I never met. Katara eyed me.

"So... this is her right?" My voice turned into a sad tone.

She nodded back, and we both watched into the sunset as the kids playfully showed their new bending techniques to Cheryl. The atmosphere felt so peaceful despite the fact that we had an attempt of murder. Cheryl's soft laughter filled the air with a joyful kind of feeling. I smiled as I watched the sky slowly turned from crystal blue to a pretty shade of orange and red.

Branyt's POV:

Turns out I feel asleep when I was watching Cheryl. When I woke up, I felt somewhat refreshed, but found Cheryl nowhere in her room. I sighed, what was she doing this time?! She should be resting. I looked out the window and found the moon already in the sky.

What time was it? Did I miss dinner? I opened the door, and slid out of her room, eventually I reached downstairs finding everyone except Cheryl in the dinning room. A new woman was with them too.

"Branyt, this is Kelina. Ivy and Alex's mom." Jinora gestured to the woman she was talking to. I nodded.

"Nice to meet you, mam." Akina studied my face. I had a feeling she already knew what I was going to ask about.

"Cheryl's sleeping on the couch." I thanked her and went to the living room. Fluffy was curled up on Cheryl's shoulder. While Sona slept nearby the two. I smiled at the sight, and carefully readjusted the green blanket so that it was covering her fully. She had a peaceful expression on her face, and was smiling.

"She is a special girl to you, right?" I heard an unfamiliar female voice, and turned around finding Kelina. Her face was full of sympathy. I hesitatingly nodded in response not sure as to where she was going to.

"She'll be fine." Her voice was caring, similar to by mom's. How did she know I was worried about Cheryl's health? She gave me a smile, chuckled good-naturally, and gave me a light punch.

"She's a strong person, physically and seemingly emotionally too, just calm down. She needs to know that all of you guys believe in her." I sighed and stared at my palms, trying to convince myself that her words were true.

She placed her hand my on shoulders, kneel, and turned me so that I was facing her.

"Believe ok honey?" Then she patted my back "Let's go finish dinner." I gave once last glance to Cheryl before leaving to the dinning room with Kelina. I'll try.

Guard's POV:

I almost had the Avatar there, if only I had listened to Oka's advice on patience. But I had the chance to kill the Avatar! And I missed it. But I was a good boy as I listening onto the part where Miss Oka told me to dress up as a guard.

When the people 'interrogated' me or whatever, I told them nothing. Just as Miss Oka told me to. But I would never be able to repay her kindness to me, people called me stupid and stuff. But Miss Oka appreciated my work in delivering heavy things. She said they will be useful to me later, and told me that it was all the Avatar's fault that I was getting punished by the Earth Queen. She said the Avatar was suppose to bring balance, but she allowed big guys like the Earth Royalties to continue their rein of terror. Miss Oka is such a nice lady and so knowledgeable.

_The next day... _

Bolin's POV:

The conversion after breakfast wasn't very … fun. Apparently, Korra told Cheryl to visit her in the spirit world, but Cheryl was also needed in the meeting between the nations against the Earth Queen. I was sad that I can't spend more time with the gang. But hey, if the world needs the Avatar, there is nothing I could do.

I looked to my brother, his seemed tired as usual, but today the spark just wasn't there anymore. Not even a little. I redirected my attention to the conversation going on.

"So who is going where?" I asked. Irwin stroked his chin.

"Cheryl, go to the spirit world with Branyt, Akina, and Jinora,"

"But-" Irwin raised his hand to stop her.

"No buts, we promised you family we would protect you."

"Fine." She replied reluctantly.

"What about us?" Lily jumped up and down. Irwin turned towards the Royal Siblings.

"Sean, Lily, I'm going to need you guys to go with the meeting too. You are part of the Royal Family."

"Awww. But it's going to be soooooooooo boring." She whined. Sean gave no complaint, but hey at least he talks about important stuff right?

Cheryl gave a small smile and a tiny hug to Lily.

"You'll be fine. Hmmm. Why don't I treat you to my homemade ice cream when you get back?" Cheryl gave a wink to Lily.

"Ok! But you have to promise, and that we'll still be Team Avatar when we get back together as a gang." Cheryl blinked in confusion at the sudden entry of a name. I smiled at the name though, the name itself reminded me of the good times we had back in Republic City.

"You know? You, Branyt, Akina, and grumpy Sean. We're Team Avatar!" Her cheerful voice only furthered made me think of the good times.

"Sure. Team Avatar." Cheryl repeated with enthusiasm. An Air Acolyte appeared at the doorway and bowed.

"Sirs and mams, your rides are ready." He then left. Branyt rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I guess it's time of us to go our ways." We all nodded. We all walked to the courtyard. We gave each other hugs and good luck on our missions.

"Don't forget to practice your firebending Cheryl. I'm still going to be strict about it." Sean smirked.

"And the ice cream!" Lily added. Cheryl chuckled and waved goodbye to them.

Eventually, everyone who was leaving was on board except Cheryl. I gave her a tight hug.

"Can't … breathe … Bolin" She gasped. I let go, and rubbed my neck sheepishly.

"Sorry." She nodded and looked to Mako.

"Bye Mako." That seemed to snap him out of his trance on the ground.

"Oh, have a safe trip Cheryl...and can you tell Korra I said hi?" She nodded a yes and he gave her a grateful smile. Sona gave Cheryl a lick before the Avatar got on board the bison.

"Bye!" I yelled along with Kelina, Alex, Ivy, Mako, and Katara. We watched the sky bison disappear slowly into the dawn of the new day. I'm going to miss them alright.

Jinora's POV:

Along the way traveling to the Southern Spirit Portal we planned out our mission. When we get there I would try to meditate to get Korra's location. Branyt would try searching through the skies, Akina looked through land, while Cheryl asked the spirits.

Branyt and Akina enjoyed the scenery, while Cheryl remained somewhat … a little silent. I was told by Akina that she often conducted parties to make the atmosphere cheerful. By what I could see, it was the opposite.

"What's wrong Cheryl?"

"Huh?" She stopped twitting her thumbs and looked up to me.

"Akina said you're normally playful."

"Oh." She looked away into the snowy environment. I slid over to where she sat.

"What's wrong? I was Korra's spiritual master, I could be yours too." She turned to me, her eyes the sad kind, without the normal spark.

"Why don't we do some airbending instead?" I said to cheer her up.

"..."

"Aren't you going to ask as to why we're doing airbending when you didn't master fire?" I titled my head to get her out of her silence.

"Why then?"

"You don't have much time so you'll only be able to learn some skills." She nodded and pulled her legs to her body. I sighed.

"It's about your title isn't it?"

"Mmhm."

"You'll understand when the times comes."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. For now, enjoy the time, okay?" She seemed hesitant until Fluffy then climbed onto the girl's lap, and curled up to go to sleep.

"Mm, 'kay."

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**I hope you liked this chapter, I am so sorry about the lack of dialogue for certain people. But there is just so many characters in this one place that I tend to forgot. And my writer's block is not helping. And yes, the guard was the dumb, innocent kind of person. He just got sent the wrong way in life. Please review, and have a nice week! Can't wait to see Korra reunite with Team Avatar, hopefully she'll get to see them in the next 1 or 2 episodes.**


	12. Two Sides

**I'm back! Hope you guys enjoyed the previous one and this one. Please review the chapters, I really need to know on how I can improve.**

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Book 1: Wondering

Chapter 12: Two Sides

Cheryl's POV:

When we reached the spirit portal, I felt … uneasy, yet at the same time prideful. It was really an awkward feeling, but I pushed the though aside to focus on finding Korra. Pepper, Jinora's sky bison didn't really seem to like the spirit portal entrance. It roared whenever Jinora tried to coax it in. We all watched at Jinora's failed attempts. I couldn't blame the poor bison. It seemed to be as glowy and as mysterious, just like the past. Wait a minute... I've never been here. I shook my head, Korra, probably did. She is the Avatar after all.

"You okay?" Branyt's voice shook me out of my thoughts. He had a concerned face just like when we were kids and I had gotten a cut on my knee. I gave him a smile back and nodded.

"Yeah." That seemed to make him even more worried about me. I sighed, when is he ever gonna loosen up. I looked back at Jinora.

"Ok, Pepper. You can stay here with the luggage, but don't go anywhere else." She warned it. It nodded its head in return while Jinora gestured too us.

"Let's get moving guys." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes when I stepped in. When I opened it, I found somewhat different from what I imagined. The dirt was somewhat a dark color, but there were spirits everywhere just like in our world. It really was beautiful though. I looked to my right finding a twisted tree and another spirit portal quite far from where I was standing.

"Okay guys, split up and let's help Cheryl find Korra." Jinora commanded. We all nodded and took off in different directions. I on the other hand found the tree to be interesting.

"The Tree of Time." I heard myself whisper. It seemed to be luring me as if I was under some spell, and next thing I knew I was walking toward it unconsciously. The world spun behind me, and when I had just snapped out of it I realized I was already at the tree.

I looked from the tree to my original location, swinging my head back and fourth. How the heck did I get here so fast? Well, the others didn't call me back so that meant that they weren't worried about my sudden movement, so I'll just check out this place. I directed my attention to the tree.

Carefully, I placed my hand on its bark and closed my eyes. Suddenly, visions of Korra meditating appeared. I quickly let go of the tree, panting cause of the sudden images imputed in my head.

"Guys! Its the Avatar!" I hear a familiar voice call out to the other spirits. I turned around finding an yellow oval shaped spirit with 6 limbs and 2 leaves on top its head standing behind me. I sit down with my knees folded. It crawls onto my lap, its so cute. Other small spirits crowded around.

"You're the one that led me to Toph." It nods back.

"Who are you looking for this time?" It asked.

"Korra." Her face lightens up.

"Oh yeah! She said that you'll be visiting soon."

"Can you guys lead me to her?"

"Yeah, but she said you have to come alone." My face scrutinizes up. How come alone?

"Can I at least tell my friends?" She shakes her head no. I stroke my chin, it's kinda weird going alone. What if … ? Oh, never mind. I'll just meet her alone.

"So, which direction do we go?" I say while standing up and letting the spirit fly into the air.

"Ehhh...we kinda are already going there." It replies. I look around me and notice that the surroundings are whizzing by.

I really need an explanation on how things work around here. When we stop, we land there is a forest to my right with huge leaves bigger than myself. There was also a large pond. And grass covered pretty much everything else. All the spirits then went going about doing their own business again. I turn around hoping to see Korra.

"Korra?" I call out hesitatingly.

"Yes?" I turn around again and a 30-year-old Korra stares back at me.

"Korra!" I let out a big grin, and gives her a big hug. She chuckles.

"Man, you'll like Bolin at points." I let go of her and smile back.

"What do I do about the current situation?"

"Let's sit, first." She gestures to a white circular table that has cake, tea, and other sweets. I blink at the sudden arrangement. Why should I relax when the world is in danger? I hear Korra laugh.

"You know that I am part of you, right?" I feel the tips of my ears grow red. Oops.

"Its okay. I was just like you. Just relax for now." I sighed and took a seat. She slices a piece of cake for me, and places a fork on it. I stay silent.

"Cheryl, sweetie. You have got to calm down. If you are all worried, how are you suppose to think right? It's true the Red Lotus are after you, but I don't think they'll attack innocent people to get to you. They have the world's eyes on them now. But be alert for your friends. Plus, the Air Nation is in the hundreds now, so they most likely use force. But still watch your back, They can pop out of no way." I gasp at the sudden flashbacks of images of the past. 'Air Nation, gone. Protect them...Avatar's duty.'

She passes tea over to me, and her expression darkens. "You should worry more about the Earth Queen. She's making some funny business that might override the legislation. "

"How do I stop her then?"

"The method is your choice, but you'll going to need to disband her military that's for sure." She paused to think.

"Have confidence in yourself. You do have the qualities. You're loyal. You didn't want to leave your friends. You're kind, my grand-kids can you tell that everyday. You're smart, you grew suspicious when the spirits told you to come alone. And you have many other characteristics that show you're awesome. Why doubt yourself?" I blushed at the comments, and she continues on with her speech.

"But that doesn't mean you won't need help okay? You can meditate to talk to me, and you have great friends to help you. You'll be fine." She finishes her talk and waited for me to respond. How did she..? Oh, yeah. She's part of me.

"Thanks Korra. And why did you want to meet me alone? Plus, how come I was moving so fast through the spirit world?" I asked.

"Well, think about the first question on your own. Isn't there somethings that certain people can't listen on?" I think about my lack of self-confidence, and other things that Korra revealed through the conversation. True. I nod back in response.

"Oh, and the going through spirit world really quickly is just a Avatar thing. If you are thinking of a destination and you want to get that location, you'll be able to whiz there. You can also meditate into the spirit world, but you'll won't be able to use your bending if you come that way." I nodded. She got up, and gave me a warm hug.

"You're never alone. Got it?" She gave me a wink and patted me on the shoulder. I nodded once again.

"Now, get back to your friends. They are getting worried."

"You can see them?" I say surprised.

"Yeah, I'm an Avatar too you know." We laughed together and said our byes before Korra disappeared.

I was halfway whizzing through the spirit world to the tree, when I found my mouth suddenly covered from the back and my feet tied. I quickly firebended away the rope tied around my ankles, turned around,and got into a fighting position.

But instead of the Red Lotus, it was a bunch of male Earth Kingdom citizens. I furrowed my brow in confusion. Why? I was just about to ask when elements were thrown to me. Earth, Fire, Water.

I dodged most until my exhaustion got to me. There were a lot more of them then me. I grunted as flying rocks bruised and scratched me. I panted, my hands on my knees after narrowly missing a flame close to my face. Then suddenly a huge rock smashed into my back. I yelped at the surprise attack. Landing face-first into the ground. I got up quickly again, hoping I could find a way to talk to them. But with each attempt at talking I was met with a wave of water. 'Why?' Was the only question in my mind at this time.

Akina's POV:

After we split up and regrouped, I found everyone else but Cheryl.

"Where's Cheryl?" I asked worriedly. It wasn't unusual for her to not appear with us since she tends to wander off to explore.

But still, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I should be worried. I sighed, I guess its because I've always been like a mom to others. I looked back at Branyt, he on other the hand got kinda...crazy when things like this happened to Cheryl. He opened his glider.

"I'm gonna try to find her through the air." He took off without letting me reply. I looked back at Jinora who was still meditating, but this time, on Cheryl's location. I collected some water from the river, and put into my water bottle.

I could use it to heal later. I tapped my foot lightly. I felt so useless, not able to be by Cheryl's or Branyt's side. What if something happened to them? They're just kids. I shook my head, they'll be fine! But what if … Get a hold of yourself Akina! I sighed and plopped onto the ground, practicing my water-bending. There wasn't much to do. Except wait and hope for the best.

Branyt's POV:

I was gliding in the sky looking for Cheryl when I spotted a bunch of figures. I quickly speed up on my airbending hoping to get a closer look. All of them were wearing Earth Kingdom clothing, but most of them were targeting this one girl in the center who was laying down, her arms shaking from trying to keep herself up.

Her clothes were wore down, and broken. I swooped down from a different angle, and what I saw made my blood boil. The girl was Cheryl, and she was desperately trying to fight back all the adults even though she was down, but it clear that she was tired.

I circled around before performing an air swipe to knock out the adults before landing besides Cheryl. Relief spread across her face at the sight of me, but then she fell into my arms, unconscious. I looked around.

Luckily, I had knocked them out so they wasn't awake, but Cheryl needed medical attention immediately. Walking back would take forever. Suddenly the world shifted, and both Cheryl & me were back at the spirit portal.

"Akina! Jinora!" I called. Akina and Jinora shifted their attention to me. I gestured to Cheryl who was still unconscious. When Akina ran over and saw Cheryl's body, her face paled. She then quickly took out the spirit water from her pouch and began healing the wounds.

Her facial expression look so serious compared to her normal calm expression, I could tell this is the first time she saw Cheryl so battered up. I wanted to be by Cheryl's side, but then I would have prevented Akina from healing her. Jinora put an arm around me to give me reassurance.

While we watched Akina heal, Jinora turned her attention to me.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I don't know. I just found a bunch of people dressed in Earth Kingdom attire attacking her. By the time I had already, she already was beaten up. I knocked them out before reaching Cheryl. She collapsed onto me when she saw that I arrived." Jinora nods.

"Where did you see them?" She asks. I point over to a spot near the forest of leaves. She flies over there,and comes back.

"They aren't there." I stroke my chin. How did they suddenly disappear? I redirect my attention to Cheryl. We watch Akina stop healing. Her eyes are sad.

"We need to get her back to Katara, some wounds are going to take time. I've healed most of the major wounds, but she gonna need some bandages. We should quickly go back." I nod, and carefully pick up Cheryl bridal style. She stirs and her eyes open up a bit.

"Branyt?" Akina comes over and pats Cheryl's hair.

"Shh, go back to sleep everything will be alright, okay?" I could tell some tears are forming around Akina's eyes, but the light goes out of Cheryl so she doesn't notice.

We go through the portal once more, and I airbend myself onto Pepper's back. Akina climbs on through Pepper's tail, while Jinora also airbends on.

While riding back, I notice Cheryl falling in and out of conscious. I snug her against me to keep her warm while Akina continues to heal the wounds with spirit water. I hope the negotiation with the world leaders are going well because Cheryl is in no shape to help the world currently.

Sean's POV

We're flying toward the Fire Nation with Irwin flying our bison, the sky slowly darkening.

"We'll see mom and dad again right?" Lily said cheerfully.

I nod back, but something in the back of the mind is nagging me, like something is a bit too fishy. I think about how we are going to a meeting with pretty much all the world leaders. We have the Earth Queen's problem … and the Red Lotus'. Goals: Earth Queen wants revenge, so wants The United Republic of Nations. Red Lotus wants to free the world from world leaders and take down the Avatar. They are somewhat working together for unknown reasons. Wait a minute! My eyes widen. If almost all the world leaders are there... wouldn't the Red Lotus be able to take us all out?! It could be a trap.

"Irwin! We have to go back! It might be a trap! All of the world leaders are there right? Its the perfect opportunity for the Red Lotus to strike" I call out to him.

"Its too late, we're already here." He replies. I look down from the bison, we're nearly hovering over the Fire Nation palace.

"Hey, there are some funny looking people with weapons in black clothing behind the garden tree," Lily says while pointing in a certain direction. "Maybe I could play with them." I slap my forehand in frustration.

"Lily, its no time to play. And they are probably-" Wait a sec. Weapons? I quickly take a look at the spot Lily points to. Sure enough, her description is true. I squint my eyes, and see that the symbol on them is the Red Lotus.

"Intruders!" I shout to the guards and quickly send a fire blast that they dodge. Lily notices my sudden move and expertly throws tiny sharp daggers toward the people. One of it actually pins a figure down before its taken out.

I jump down, using my firebending to propel me down and cushion my landing. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lily jump out of the saddle,flip and land seconds after me.

We confront the 3 people in black suits. Irwin lands the sky bison in the garden. I hear the guards approach. They instantly recognize our royal status and take on the Red Lotus Members.

I gesture to my sis to come with me. I run to the throne room, there's gotta be more than just 3. When we get there, there are already Red Lotus Members fighting with my Dad and some guards.

"Look out behind you!" My Dad shouts to me. I turn my back finding Lily chi-blocking a Red Lotus member only inches away from my back. I use a fire whip to send 3 other flying across the room.

What a mess! For now, the throne room is quiet. Lily and me give a quick hug to my dad, and he hugs us back tightly.

"I'm so glad you two are okay." He tells us.

"Daddy? What's going on?" Lily's face is full of worry. He sighs.

"Lily, politics."

She raises a brow to indicate that she doesn't understand. We hear the door open again, and more Red Lotus in black suits appear. We all get into fighting stances.

"The Red Lotus, Lily. The Red Lotus are after us Lily." I give a simple, but direct answer to her question. Her eyes seemed to show she level of understanding. I look back to the unwanted visitors. Hopefully Cheryl had found Korra, and things are going good with them. Cause its a lot worse here I believe.

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**So, yes I still have a writer's block. And that means longer waiting. But I hope this chapter was enjoyable. Please review, I need to know what you guys think. **


	13. Escape

**Hey guys! Man, when I stay up late doing hw, it really takes a toll. . Thanks to karanathefirebender for all the reviews.**

**Hope you like this chapter.**

**I don't own LOK or ATLA.**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 13: Escape

Katara's POV:

I was watching Mako's grandchildren play around with their grandfather, when I heard the familiar sound of sky bison. We all rushed to the courtyard that was in front of the palace, and found Jinora's crew coming back with concerned faces.

When Branyt airbended himself down, he had a beaten down Cheryl in his arms. I quickly took a look at the poor girl, my heart broken, this was the third time I had seen something like this happen. It broke my heart every time to see the Avatar end up like this. It happened with Aang and Korra, and now Cheryl. I looked back finding Mako covering up the kids' eyes and ushering them in with Bolin.

"Hurry, bring her to the healing room." I gestured for the others to follow me. While Branyt placed Cheryl on one of the white medical beds, I took a look at the injures. She had scars, buries, scratches everywhere, even a pained expression.

"She got beat up by a both of people in Earth Kingdom clothing. They knocked her down with Earth, Fire, and Water attacks one after another." Branyt's tone was seemingly calm, but full of anguish. I nodded back and checked for broken bones. Bolin then appeared and brought in buckets of water. He winced just looking at Cheryl's broken condition.

"Akina, can you help me with her injuries?" She quickly nodded, ran out the door, and came back with bandages, towels, and other essentials.

Jinora got the others to come out, but it took some time to pull Branyt out. I knew he wanted to be by her side, but it would be harder to work with lots of people inside. Akina placed a wet towel on the girls head, while I worked on the left arm. I could tell it was broken, possibly due to shielding oneself. Then, water-bended some of the liquid out of the bucket and placed it on the lower arm, willing it to glow, indicating the healing process.

Cheryl's expression tensed up at first, but later relaxed when I got the bone pieced together again. I made a sling for the left arm, then turned her to check up on the back. The image shocked me. It was all bruised up, I'm surprised her spine didn't break. I was just about to place water on her back when the door suddenly opened.

"The Red Lotus are here!" Branyt shouted to me, with the others following him into the room. I turned to a wall without windows and opened up a secret gateway with my waterbending. I kept one there is case anything happened.

"Hurry!" I turned to them. They quickly did as told. Branyt carried a still unconscious Cheryl through the tunnel with Akina, Mako, Bolin, Kelina, the kids following behind. Finally, I too went through and closed the icy slab behind us. We had Mako and Ivy light out the path before we reached the end of the tunnel, which was the stables where the sky bison are kept. For some reason, Sona wasn't there. But we didn't have to look for her. Luckily we had two sky bison there. I gave each one a pat to wake them up, then turned to Akina and Branyt.

"You guys need to take Cheryl to safety. If we separate like this, we'll be able to knock the Red Lotus off our trails and cover you guys." Akina shook her head no.

"We can't let you guys get hurt, you'll just as important."

"We'll be able to handle ourselves." I heard Mako say from behind me.

"Yeah! We won't let grandma down." Ivy cried out from on top the sky bison. The two teenagers gave us one last worried look before climbing onto the other sky bison. Looks like Akina will be steering.

"Good Luck!" Branyt shouted to us before their sky bison took off in one direction. I got onto my own with Jinora and Korra's family.

"Yip, Yip!" Jinora told Pepper and we also took off too. I noticed Mako staring intently on a certain woman with braided hair that was looking at us with a face full of hate.

"Why is Grandpa acting weird, Mom?" Alex asked Kelina. She traced her father-in-law's gaze to the woman, but seemed to not be able to figure out what he was thinking.

"I don't know honey. Don't worry, everything will be fine." She hugged her son tighter and gave a glance to her daughter in Mako's arms. The normally feisty girl was clinging to her grandpa's sleeve.

"Everything isn't gonna to be okay, is it?" Ivy whispered in a soft tone for all of us to hear. I silently nodded, but I'll still believed that there was hope in the world. I turned to take a look at the palace, finding it in flames. Bolin gave me a worried and mouthed 'Cheryl will save us, right?' I nodded back a yes. She will, she has to, she is the Avatar after all.

Lily's POV:

I was on my knees, trying to catch my breath, and hiding in a dark corner after being chased by a bunch of Red Lotus members. Man, what is with these people? Its like they have an endless supply of them.

Someone touched me on the back of the shoulder, and I turn around ready to fight whoever is behind me. But its actually my older brother! I give him a tight hug, afraid of what is to come.

He chuckles softly before smoothing out my hair and hugging me back. Sure, he's all the cool, serious and collective type and doesn't speak often cause of that ; but he still trusts me and protects me when I need him the most. A tear rolls down my cheek and he wipes it away.

"Where's dad?" I ask him in a scared and whispered tone, even though I am still hugging him.

"Hiding. We need to get out of here and regroup with the others in the Water Tribe. Dad's gonna try to get through a secret underground passage with the other world leaders. Even that stupid President Raiko Jr." He snarled at the name. I could never get politics though, too complicated for me.

"How do we get out of here then? Do we have to leave Mom and Dad?" I ask, hoping he won't lose patience with the amount of questions I ask, and the current situation. He takes a deep breath and sighed, eyeing the Royal Palaces' walls until his eyes brighten up, most likely an idea.

"Lily, remember that time Dad showed us a secret way out?" I nod and try to get a jest of what he's trying to say. I stare at the wall my brother is looking at, a memory flashing before me.

*Flashback* About 8 years ago...

"Daddy, Daddy! What's my Birthday present?" I giggle as he picks me up and tickles me. Sean was standing next my dad, confidently as usual. Dad brings me and Sean to this certain part of the Royal Wall behind the Throne Room Building and nearby the pond area. His faces turns partially serious.

"Lily, where are we currently?" I blink a couple of times out of confusion, but nevertheless still answer the question.

"Behind your throney place and close to the garden." I answer cheerfully, but my face falls when I see his sad face. I look to my brother, he has an emotionless facial expression. Out of Dad's sleeves comes out a thin median-sized metal looking stick and he hands it to me while I'm still in his arms.

"Lily, carefully study what I am doing." I nod and watch as he creates a blowtorch version of a Fire Dagger and engraves a certain symbol onto a brick. Its similar to the Fire Nation symbol but with

a crown on top of the flame. Suddenly, I feel part of the ground shake, I cling onto my dad a bit tighter and he reassures me by hugging me back. I turn to the ground, some slabs are shifting below the wall my Dad just torched.

It reveals a secret stairway that I've never knew about. I take a look at Sean's face, he isn't surprised at all. When we enter the tunnel, the only light is the flames coming from my father's and brother's hands.

Sean then places his right hand that's engulfed in flames onto a specific brick, which closes the entrance shut. The hallway is made of plain gray stone and can have two people standing side by side to walk at the same time with enough room. I nearly fall asleep in my father's arms while he and Sean continue walking down the dull, colorless path.

When my dad shakes me awake, I see Sean doing the same action as before, but this time a entrance opens up. I shield my eyes using my arms which makes me nearly fall off my dad. When we walk through the blinding light, and I open my eyes to the surrounding area.

I gasp in awe at the sight. We landed in a beautiful clearing overlooking the capital city full of short green grass that are up to my ankles if my feet were directly on the ground. Then from afar, I see a simple cottage with a nearby farm.

It wasn't modern like ours. Instead it was old, tattered, and looked like hay was used as a roof. But it still looked decent, at least the windows aren't broken. I then see a wooden window shutter on the left break off just that moment. Then again, not.

Then an old man in his 60's with a pointy gray beard and hair appears out of the house. When he notices our presence, his eyes widen and he opens up his door again, yelling something to someone before returning his gaze to his.

Dad walks to him, and the old man does the same, except that we are faster, so we meet him when we're almost to his house. He bows slightly and Sean gives him a hug.

"Nice to see you again Sean. How are you doing Iroh?" He asked. My Dad nods back. The Old Man's eyes trace to mine, they kinda look like Mom's.

"This is Lily. Lily, this is Mommy's Dad. Your other grandfather." My Dad lets my grandfather carry me. The Old Man studies me and smiles. I smile back.

"Lily, such a pretty name. You have your Mom's smile all right." A tear slips down from his old cheek. I quickly wipe it away.

"Lily, like the beautiful flower. Lily..."

*Flashback ends*

"Lily!" My brother's voice knocks me back to reality. I shook my head to get my vision back track.

"Were you listening?" He hisses. I cringe.

"Sorry." I say in a sad tone. He sighs.

"We're gonna take that route and get help from them, okay? But the Red Lotus are still crawling all over the palace, so we gotta be quick and quiet. Got it?" I nod a yes and we quickly scramble to the spot. I kept lookout while my brother firebended the symbol.

The slab door opens up and we quickly enter and close it. I cling onto his arm, surprisingly he doesn't shake me off like normal, instead he continues walking with the flame in his hand. Eventually, we speed up our place and end up running to the other end.

When we open up the other side, its the same scene as I remember it, the same awe feeling despite the fact I been through here numerous times to visit my grandparents. We rush past the farm and knock frantically on our grandparents' wooden door.

"Coming! Coming!" I hear my grandmother's voice say. When she opens the door and sees us, her face is full of delight until she notices our desperate expressions. She ushers us in and looks around the area before closing the door.

When we go inside the living its the same old orange china tea pot china engrave with rose carvings on the circular wooden table. There are shelves to right and left full of books and picture frames, also a TV on one of its corners. The wallpaper is the dull color of yellow, but it still brightens up my day. Though Sean tells me he thinks the opposite. Grandpa is sitting on one of the wooden chairs reading a newspaper, not realizing our entry.

"Stan! The grand-kids are here, stop reading your newspaper." She scolds him. He reluctantly listens and notices our glum faces. His face grows with concern and tells us to sit. My brother shakes his head 'no', I do the same.

"What's wrong?" Sean just points to the window that faces our palace. Our grandparents give us looks of confusion before doing what they were told.

"What happened?" Grandma asked after seeing the palace n flames and partially destroyed. I sink into a chair, and slump my head onto the table thinking back to the past while Sean explains. I pull out that short metal rod tucked safely in my sleeve that dad gave me many years ago and stare at it.

*Flashback*

We back at the brick wall again after our visit to them.

"Lily, do you still have the rod I gave you?" He asked me. I nod and pull out the short metal rod out of my sleeve.

"Lily, you must keep this with you at all times," He scrapes one end of the rod onto the brick making it grow red and hot and then does the same pattern before, but with the hot end of the rod on a specific brick.

My eyes widen at awe and wonder. "If Sean isn't with you, use this rod to make the pattern okay? Tell no one of this passage. You'll need it when there's danger." His eyes are hardened and serious instead of his normal bright eyes. I nod slowly.

"Grandpa and Grandma here will help you if danger comes." He explains as we walk back through the tunnel.

"What kind of danger? Does someone want to kill us?" I say.

"You'll learn about them someday." He whispers back before we reach the exit that opened up to the garden.

*Flashback ends*

Dad knew the danger from the beginning...He knew that something like this might happen. What are we going to do?

Oka's POV:

The first stop I made was the stupid palace of the Southern Water Tribe, once home to the 'mighty Avatar Korra'. I clench my hand into a fist. The person who completely destroyed my life, my family. I'll get revenge for you, Mom and Dad.

The Earth Queen had told us that she sent some help all across the world, but according to my comrades there were none. Doesn't matter, that she didn't help. We were going to kill her last anyway.

When part of the Red Lotus and me marched in, we easily knocked the guards off their feet. Around the middle of our assault I noticed two sky bison flying away. For some reason, I was frozen onto the spot, despite the fact that I could easily blast them out of the sky with my combustion bending.

The sky bison closer to the ground had a man staring at me with intent eyes. I glared right back at him and resumed destroying the palace. It felt good getting all the my anger and pain out. Finally being able to properly release it. But I won't stop hunting for the Avatar, until she's dead.

" ! We found Dustin!" I hear someone say from afar. Dustin, I completely forgot that I had sent him here as a spy for me. The lady leads me underground to one of the prison chambers. And Dustin is sitting so still against the wall. She metal bends the cell bars and I rush to the poor guy's side.

Even though he was 30-something, he acted year a 8 year old. I had felt bad for him, so I took him under my wing. I shook him awake. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

" ! I'm so sorry. I tried to kill the Avatar even though she wasn't in the state, but I failed. They put me into this weird cell."

"Its okay," I reply in a soothing voice "What did the Avatar look like?"

"She's strong! She was able to tell that I was going to throw a knife at her! Pretty pretty though. Fair skin, long black hair, Earth Kingdom skirt." I sighed, his descriptions wasn't getting me anywhere. I had learned that from past experience, but at least something is nothing. I helped him up and he helped me search through the rooms for anyone or clues with the others. If the Avatar was here, there's got to be some clue.

Branyt's POV:

We were roaming aimlessly through the sky, and I had taken the role of guiding the sky bison so Akina could heal Cheryl was the remaining water in her pouch. Akina had told me to continue north west by following the left side of the spot of where the sun set so we could meet up with the world leaders in the Fire Nation. I looked back to Akina, she had baggy and tired eyes from healing the rest of the injuries.

"You should sleep," I told her "I can guide the bison." She nodded a 'no' and continued healing the wounds.

"You know Cheryl wouldn't want you like this. You need rest, and besides, you can't heal properly if you are tired." Akina looked at the resting girl and sighed.

"Fine, I'll do it for Cheryl sake." She rested her back on the side of a saddle and closed her eyes. Things got hectic in just a couple of hours. Hopefully, things will get better later.

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**Once again, please review. And tell me what you think about the characters so far.**


	14. Again

**Hey guys! Been busy with clubs and schoolwork, so chapters take longer to post. Also, I realized that I have been spelling Bryant's name wrong, sorry! Also, I'm sorry about the travel time from nation to nation being really short, I just wanted to have more action with Team Avatar together. Hope you guys still like the story. Please review, I need to know what you guys think of it!**

**I don't own LOK or ATLA.**

**BOLD letters equal author's note here.**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 14: Again

Cheryl's POV**(A/N:felt like I hadn't done her POV in a long time)**:

I felt myself leaning on something or someone and the sun's rays warmth on my face. When I opened my eyes, I found my muscles feeling sore and staring at Bryant's gray eyes. Then I realized his protective arms around me and that I was resting on his chest which me made blush furiously. I lowered my head, hoping he didn't catch the rosy color on my cheeks.

"What's wrong, Cheryl? Do you need me to get Akina to heal you?" His voice was full of worry as usual, but instead of the usual annoyed feeling that I got, it was something different that made my heart beat faster. Was it …? No, Bryant and me are just good friends.

"Nothing," I shook my head "What happened?" I said, hoping to change the topic. Something flickered in his eyes and he turned away to the ocean. Wait … ocean? Why are we? -I thought we were at the South Pole.

"You don't remember? The people in Earth Kingdom clothing..." I looked down at my hands, just noticing the sling around my left arm. That's right … I was ambushed. But that still doesn't explain why we weren't at the South Pole.

"Tell me everything I missed." My tone turning serious as I looked up. He took a deep breath in before staring into my eyes, which just made me feel uncomfortable.

"The Red Lotus attacked the palace while we were trying to heal. We had to abandon the place and separate. But don't worry, the Katara and the others escaped on another sky bison. I'm sure they're fine." I clenched my hands. It's all my fault, if I only I had been stronger, none of this would have happened.

"It's not your fault you know." I let out a big sigh, he didn't understand.

"I'm the Avatar! I shouldn't have fallen so easily." He flinched from the sudden change of volume, I looked down to my hands, feeling guilty. Guilty that I wasn't there to help them when the palace was attacked, guilty that I wasn't able to protect my friends, guilty about taking out my anger on Bryant … I'm the worst Avatar ever. I wanted to bury my face into my hands, but one of them is broken, so instead I looked away from Bryant, ashamed. Bryant softly turned my chin so I was looking at him again, his eyes sincere.

"What happened to you? Why did you run away before? Did you really run away? Do you know how much it aches to see you beat up like this?" His voice was confused, angry, and sad all mixed into one. Although I was listening to his words, my eyes were still focused on my now hands which went back to normal position instead of being clenched.

I was now sitting on my knees and it didn't help me feel any better, since it just reminded how helpless I was against the surprised attack from normal benders. When I didn't answer his questions, he let out a frustrated grunt and ran his hand through his hair.

Then, he remained quiet and stared at me for quite some time, which really creeped me out. I couldn't tell if he was being patient, sitting this one out, or if he was waiting for me to break. And me breaking is going to happen VERY soon cause I couldn't really stand him staring at me for such a long time period. **(A/N:Is this too out of character?) **That's when I finally decided to speak up.

"I was ambushed after saying good bye to Korra." My voice barely a whisper, but Bryant was still intently listening on.

"Why didn't you tell-"He interrupted, but when he saw the ashamed look on my face he instantly backed down. It was kinda cute in a way. Wait, what? Cheryl, clear your head, go back to the story.

"Some things are for Avatars only," I say, partly grinning to show triumph as to me knowing what he was thinking. He seemed to surprised at my sudden emotion change. I on the other hand went back to what I knew.

"And I didn't run away, Korra wanted to see me alone...Then the Earth Kingdom people came out of nowhere on the way back to you guys … And I'm sorry I wasn't able to be any help. I'm such a failure as a Avatar. I can't even protect my own friends from disaster." He placed a hand on my shoulder, making me look up to him.

"It's not your fault that you got jumped by random people. And as for the Avatar things, you'll make it up later. We're going to the Fire Nation palace to get help from the other World Leaders." I nod, feeling a bit a better.

"Wait, you don't have a map. How do you know we're going to right way?" I asked. He shrugs.

"You ask me. Akina's the one that's driving. Don't you know more about her than me?" That's right! Akina's knows a lot about history and geography, along with other smart things. Wait … she doesn't know I'm awake right? I creep up behind her and pounce on her.

She yelps and when she turns, gives me a death glare until she realizes that its me and gives me a tight hug.

"Ow, ow! The arm!" I cry out. She lets go and takes a careful look at the arm while I sit down next to her.

"Sorry. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Her face scrutinizes up in worry.

"What?"

"I know you're not fine."

"Really, I'm okay." I say a little frustrated. I get that others want to help me, but I rather be independent at points. But its still nice knowing that others care for me. I watch as she takes out a small packaged bread out of one of her sweater pockets and places in into my good hand.

"Here, eat. You're going to need the energy."

"What about you guys?"

"There were some packaged food on board the sky bison before we left, Bryant and me already ate." I look down, before they left … maybe they didn't have to leave if I was strong enough. I hear Akina let out a big sigh.

"Cheryl, if you've got concerns you've got to learn to rely on others too. It happened with Aang, Korra, your past lives! Spirits, you can be really stubborn with your true feelings at points." Did they really need help though? I mean in the very end, it was the Avatar finishing up the job. _But we had others to support us … Like with the spirit portal and Amon … _I hear Korra say as she pours some flashbacks into me. I see Amon blood-bending Korra, and then Mako saving her with lightning. Then, Kya, Tenzin, Bolin, and Mako defending Korra's body from dark spirits. For some reason, I can't but smile at the memories even though it feel like it was something in my past that I dreaded. I look down at the bread Akina gave me and take a bite out of it. Fine, I'll try, But only try, Korra. _Good. _

Sean's POV:

Lily wasn't her normal cheerful self despite Grandpa's attempts to cheer her up with jokes that normally cracked her up. Hey, just because I'm hardcore most of the time doesn't mean I can't be a good older brother.

She was staring at the same window, barely blinking. Sitting in the same chair, staring, for the past hour or so. Her face monotone. I turned to my grandfather.

"Grandpa, do you have a telegram machine, telephone, or some communication device?" I asked.

"Why yes. Come with me." I looked at my sis before following him to a small space nearby the entrance of the kitchen.

In the small space was a telephone on a tall square shaped wooden table with a yellow telephone book. I take the small piece of paper my dad had given me in case of emergencies. It had the numbers of the chiefs of each nation along with some other important people. I quickly punched the correct number for the Water Tribe Palace. Surprisingly, it said that the telephone service there was gone. I got the same result when I dialed Republic City.

"Any luck?" My grandfather asked as he passed by the kitchen. I shook my head 'no' as I clasped the phone.

"Lily,dear! Get back in here this moment! You'll catch a cold!" I heard my grandma call out from the front door. I quickly put down the telephone and rushed to the front yard. When I got there, Lily was staring into the sky with my grandma trying to get her inside. But the girl wouldn't budge or say anything with each attempt. I then told my grandma to go inside and let me try. She gave me worried look before going inside. I tried pulling her inside by picking her up. However, she was planted to the ground.

"Lily, please." My voice was lacking the energy it usually had and surprisingly pleading. I had this feeling of dread that I couldn't understand, and it was affecting my regular actions. It was different feeling from a normal day, like doom was coming.

"It didn't work did it?" Was her reply.

I scrunched up my face in confusion. What was she talking about? She then pointed to a dot in the sky coming, nearby the horizon. I couldn't decode her body language but it made sense when I got some binoculars and a closer look. Turns out it was Akina, Cheryl, and Bryant. But Cheryl had a sling around her left arm and they each looked drained of energy. I tried signaling them by waving. Hopefully, they'll see the signal.

Akina's POV: **(A/N: Did I not do hers in a long time too?)**

When we entered Fire Nation territory, the sky seemed to be filled with smoke coming from the fire from the Fire Nation. Cheryl and Bryant had a look of horror when they saw the Palace in flames.

My first thought went to Lily, Sean, Irwin, and the other world leaders. Were they okay? What had happened? The fire reminded me of the one back at the Water Tribe with the Red Lotus. Everything had gone by so quickly: First we were at the Spirit Portal, than the Water Tribe Palace, the Red Lotus attacked, and here we are at the Fire Nation. With its Palace in ruins too.

I was going to lead the sky bison to the Palace when Cheryl, who was sitting next to me, tapped on my shoulder. She pointed to two people on the outskirts of the city, one of them waving. I squinted, trying to make out the people. When we got close enough, I could see that it was Lily and Sean! But what were they doing there? And where is everyone else?

We kinda crashed landed though, the sky bison was exhausted from non-stop flying. To my right, I saw an old couple come out of the house and stand besides Sean and Lily. I got off the bison by walking down its tail while Cheryl and Bryant each jumped off it and cushioned their landing with airbending. We ran up to them.

"What are you guys doing up there? Aren't you suppose to be at the spirit portal?" Sean asked.

"Yeah, we did. But Cheryl needed medical attention," I pointed to Cheryl's sling "And then the Red Lotus attacked the palace." Sean's eyes widened at the news. Than the old man behind them coughed. San recomposed himself before introducing us to his grandparents and telling us what happened his at the palace.

I noticed that Lily was awfully quiet and had a sad expression. I quickly pulled her into a hug with the others watching me carefully.

"What's wrong?" I whispered. "Don't worry. We're gonna win the kingdoms back and you'll see your parents again." She remained silent but then cried softly on my chest as I still had my arms wrapped around her.

"That's not it." She replied despite still crying. She looked up, her eyes red and her cheeks stained with dried tears and wet tears too. She hugged me tighter and buried her face into my chest. I held her close and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

"Shhh. Everything will be fine." I said softly.

"No, it wouldn't! I saw it! I saw this scenario in my dreams! I first I thought it was nothing but everything I saw so far came true. I saw the Water Tribe Palace in flames. I saw the black smoke covering the city. And Cheryl gonna die because she's too nice to let us help her in the final battle!" I looked at Cheryl, her face in shock as if Lily had exactly said what she was planing to do. I lifted up Lily's chin, getting her to look at me.

"Lily, did you really see Cheryl dying in your sleep?" I asked. She paused a moment before replying.

"No... but it looked like she was! And I can't stand losing any of my family!" Family?

"You, Cheryl, and Bryant are like family to me too... Team Avatar" She choked on the words as she was still crying a bit.

I looked to my left, Cheryl stepping forward. I let go of Lily, pushing her into Cheryl's arms. It was something they needed to resolve. Cheryl slowly pulled Lily into a hug as best as she could with her injured left arm in a sling, afraid of rejection. I noticed a small tear slip from Cheryl's left eye, I don't think anyone else saw it though. She stroked Lily's short soft black hair.

"I'll let the rest of Team Avatar help me okay?" She said softly. Lily looked up to, not fully believing the Cheryl's words. I could see the pain reflected off of Cheryl's face to see Lily so welled up on her possible death.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not. It's an Avatar's promise." Lily hesitated. "You have my word."

"Fine." She gave a small smile back to Cheryl.

"So what do we do now?" Bryant asked.

"Citizens of the Fire Nation," the loud speaker spoke as we all turned towards it. "You have been freed from the tyrants who haven't allowed your freedom. Choose your way. For those who oppose, go find your precious Avatar to help reconquer your ways If you are here Avatar, the Water Tribe has been freed too. If you really want to reverse the effects of the Red Lotus' freedom ideals of letting the people have their way, meet us within 24 hours on the very same spot you battled, and defeated our leader about 50 years ago." The loud speaker clicked off leaving us in confusion, fear, and worry.

"What's this place they're talking about? And you are not going there alone, Cheryl. We got your back." Bryant said.

"On that cliff." I replied. Everyone looked at me. I put up my hands to defense.

"Hey, can't accuse me of reading too much Avatar history. The location their talking about is somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, if we are going there, we should go now with a current map. Avatar Korra had battled their leader Zaheer there after getting poisoned and angered with her father's so-called death." I noticed Cheryl panting and leaning on Bryant with her good arm over him. He had a worried look.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Nothing, just some flashbacks," She shivered not from the air, but of the memory."And I know how to get there. No need for a map. We just need an airship since Pepper is too tired to fly." We all look at the snoring sky bison.

"Its okay. We'll provide the needed supplies and transportation." Sean's grandfather said. Sean raised an eyebrow. The old man went into his house and a few seconds later we felt the ground, and nearby where we stood popped out a small commercial airplane.

"You are one cool grandpa." Bryant complimented.

"I know I am son." And he went in with his wife to pack the kids some food on the way.

"The real battle has just begun..." I heard Cheryl say before we checked out the new airplane. It really has, it really has begun...

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**So hey guys! Just telling you that there will be a book 2 and book 3 most likely. I hope you guys like the story so far. And sorry about the chapters coming in later than usual. This week, I have tests a day after other, so I have to use time to study for each class. I tried to my Cheryl a little more human in a sense, like not just having her being kind and caring (well, the original objective was showing how she differs from Aang and Korra because of the showing of this trait in a extreme type of way). Once again, please review. I really need the support.**


	15. A Promise

**Hey guys! Sorry about the longer wait on this one. This chapter is longer because I wanted a little more action, and longer chapters take longer time and I had to do many projects and test prep during Thanksgiving and all that other stuff. Plus, family arguments have been piling up which doesn't help me in writing nor does it help me with getting ideas. In addition, Korra is ending VERY SOON, I am tearbending so much! I don't want the show to end! I just have this unsettling feeling when I think about how Korra is no longer airing new episodes after Dec 19. I might not have the inspiration to continue this story for quite some time because its ending. So, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please review.**

**Once again I don't own Legend of Korra.**

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Book 1:Wondering

Chapter 15: A Promise

Sean's POV:

We had gotten onto the plane my grandfather gave us, and it was really cool. It reminded me of first-class airplanes.

"So, who's gonna fly it?" I asked.

"There's an auto-pilot button in the cockpit, just place in the

and you are good to go." My grandfather replied.

Akina, Lily, and Cheryl stayed in the passenger seat area and the snack area. While Bryant went ahead into the cockpit. I followed after him and I watched him awe in wonder at all the gadgets. He lightly touched some of the buttons, and his hand paused when it reached a certain one. **(A/N: I know nothing about planes, nor researched about the buttons, so bare with me if some things are wrong).** Why that button though?

"This is where you put in the coordinates," Bryant said, as if reading my mind "Mechanics are kinda my thing."

"Nice."

"Hey Cheryl! Come you come over to show where are we suppose to go?" Bryant called out.

"Sure!" She replied cheerfully, and came rushing into the cockpit . My grandfather pulled out a map of the Earth Kingdom from a nearby shelf and opened it.

Cheryl's eyes scanned the map until it reached a certain spot within one of the mountain ranges drawn on the map. She pointed to it and gave a nod to my grandpa. He gave the coordinates to Bryant, who inputted it into the computer system.

Bryant sat in the pilot's seat , buckled up, put on some head phones and gave a thumbs up to my grandpa.

"Okay, to those who are staying on the plane, please go to your proper seat as we are about to take off." said Bryant into the speaker. My grandparents gave each of us a hug and left. I sat in the copilot's seat and buckled up while the others went to the passenger area.

"Liftoff in, three, two one!" I waved goodbye through the window and watched as we soared into the sky.**(A/N: Last time I was on a airplane was five, barely remember how it went. So please don't hate me).**

Akina's POV:

I took a seat across Cheryl after liftoff occurred. Lily was in the snack room getting as much treats as she could, it took some time to get the girl not to get all sugary, but it was worth it, maybe. I hear the boxes in the snack room fall down. I have a feeling my speech didn't work. I look back to Cheryl who is is currently staring out of the window, and leaning on her good arm.

"Hey." I say. She looks at me, her face somewhat monotone.

"Hey."

"Want me to heal your broken arm? I have more water right now." I water bend the liquid out of my water skin and let it hover in the air.

"Sure." She replies, pulls up her sleeve and takes out the sling. I carefully place the water on her broken arm and begin the healing process, making it glow. At first, Cheryl tenses up a little, but then she eventually relaxes. I think back to what Lily saw in her dream.

"Was you really planning on going to fight by yourself?" I say to break the silence.

"You already know the answer to that."

"Yes, right?"

"Mphm."

"Please, Cheryl. You have people who care about you. I get that you are stubborn, but use that stubbornness on the battlefield. Everyone needs support, even the Avatar. I'm pretty sure that your past lives' experiences have taught you that."

"I know, Akina" she replies annoyingly "I have tried to change, but its hard. I don't want you guys getting hurt."

"But it hurts us seeing you get take everything on your own, and eventually seeing you get injuries in the process," I see something flicker in her eyes, I think I finally got through to her. "Besides, we all have our talents and we all are capable of defending ourselves. Plus, you already have others helping you now, even though you may not realize it, and we are okay. Sean's grandparents provided this plane, shelter food, and some comfort. Bryant's piloting this air craft. Lily lightens up the atmosphere. Sean keeps us on track, and points out hidden clues. Besides we chose to help you, not because you are the Avatar. But because you are our friend, Cheryl. We all are strong. If we weren't, we wouldn't have have it this far into our adventure together."

"Adventure? Isn't this madness? Someone's going to get hurt." I give her an annoyed face and cross my arms.

"And you're the one who's jumping from place to place secretly. Escaping the police at least a million times, and you didn't know that you were the Avatar during that time. You were a regular 15 year old girl. If you can do that, so can we. And if we do fall down, won't we just rise up even stronger?"

"True...But-"

"No, buts." She sighed. I continued to work on the arm a little more, and when I was finished I put back the liquid into my water skin. She flexed it around to test out her arm, before eventually letting it rest on her leg.

"Thanks for healing it." I nodded back.

"Attention, all passengers. This is your pilot, Bryant speaking." I see Cheryl grinning from ear to ear at Bryant's voice through the loudspeaker.

"It will take 3 hours to get to our destination. So to those who need rest, please do. For others, please enjoy your view. Thank you for riding Bryant airlines."

We all laugh at Bryant's so called official announcement. Cheryl and me then turned to a crash from the snack room. The speaker screeched as turned back on.

"And Lily, please take better care of the snack section." Cheryl got up to go to the snack room, but I stopper her from standing up and gently pushed her back down into the seat.

"You're going to need to rest," I poked around the luggage place and found some blankets and carefully tucked them around her. "I'll handle it." Her eyes gave signs of protest but she backed down when I gave her a glare.

Lily's POV:**(A/N: I'm so sorry to have these moments, it seems really slow right? But I realized the time gap, so I had to fill it in or the story seems rushed.)**

Later, when we got to the location, the atmosphere in the airplane got tense. Cheryl looked so calm and composed in her seat though. I wish I could be as mentally strong as her, I'm freaking out despite Akina's reassurance. The area we landed in had these really tall light brown stone that looked like it was a mile tall!

"It's about 6pm. We still have a lot of time. The announcement the Red Lotus made was only about 4 hours ago. We should practice for the fight." Akina said while looking at her blue colored watch.

"We could practice in the bending room if it's too cold outside!" I shouted excitedly. Exploring the rooms in the plane had proven to be awesome cause grandpa's airplane had more rooms than a regular one. Cheryl gave a questioned look to Akina who shrugged. My brother crossed his arms at Akina's judgment.

"Well, it's not really cold outside though, so why don't take our bending outside for now. Plus, there is more room outside. Cheryl should work on her airbending and firebending." stated Sean. The others nodded in approval ignoring my slumped shoulders at disbanding the use of the bending room. When we walked out of the airplane, several spirits crowded around Cheryl. In reply, she gave a soft smile back. They all hugged her at once but then flew off.

"Why did they suddenly do that?" Bryant turned to Cheryl. She simply clasped her hands and whispered something to the sky.

For the next two hours Bryant and Sean helped Cheryl shape up for the battle. By that time, it was already dark and dinner time. It seemed so awkward to do regular things when something bad was going to happen soon. After we cleaned up, it was time for bed.

"Guys," Cheryl said making all of us look at her, she shifted uncomfortably and looked to the ground "Even though we kinda haven't been together for a long time, you are the best friends I could ever have. Just saying, and I'm glad to have you guys by my side."

"Of course." Akina replied and we resulted in a group hug that seemed to lighten things up. When it was time for bed, I curled up next to Cheryl.

"Cheryl?"

"Yes?" She replied.

"I'm so scared at to what is going to happen. How are you able to stay so calm?" There's silence for quite some time in the dark, and I'm afraid she's already fallen asleep.

"I'm scared too." She's scared?

"But you look so strong, so confident, so unfazed. Wait, what does unfazed mean again?" I hear Cheryl softly chuckle.

"Just because you look like it doesn't mean it's what you truly feel."

"Just like how you like Bryant?" The words popping out of my mouth before I can take it back. I hear Cheryl grabbed for something and before I knew it I had a pillow hitting my back.

"Who said I liked Bryant?"

"Ummm, well you two look cute together, Bryant cares about your safety..." I ramble on until Cheryl shushes me to let the others sleep. Soon, sleep takes over.**(A/N:Yes, awkward).**

Cheryl's POV:

The next morning I woke up a nervous wreck. Though I think my acting skills have been too refined that even when I wasn't trying, I looked composed in the mirror. Yesterday, Korra had sent some spirits to wish me luck. I feel so grateful to have a past life that I could talk with. I remember when I was smaller, Akina told me that Korra had lost her connection to her past lives and she felt alone because of that. I had to take deep breaths to calm myself down. Repeatedly reminding myself that since I'm the Avatar, I could do it.

For the rest of the morning, I practiced my bending. When the afternoon slowly creeped up, butterflies appeared in my stomach. Waiting didn't help me either.

Around 2 pm, we walked to the location of where Korra battled Zaheer. Surprisingly, I found a whole group of about 30 Red Lotus Members sitting down in lined other, similar to an army's. In front of them stood a lady that looked like P'Li, but some of the facial features looked like Zaheer. She had the braided hair and 3rd eye tattoo of P'Li, but the eye color and nose of Zaheer.

"Which of you is the Avatar?" She called out. I stepped forward.

"I am." Snickers erupted on their side. I simply got into a fighting stance. **(A/N: Sorry if the fighting scenes are bad, I'm not good at writing those). **The lady smirked.

"Do you remember me?" She asked, anger coating her words. My hands lowered a bit, surprised at the sudden question. When I didn't respond, fury seemed to consume her.

"I'm Oka! P'li and Zaheer's daughter! You took my parents away. Throughout my life I didn't have their support! And it's the Avatar's fault that it has been like this. For the past years I had to gather the disbanded members of the Red Lotus, hoping to live my legacy."

I thought back to how Korra suffered from the poison, both sides had taken a hit from this one experience. But why go through the trouble of revenge? Isn't life about accepting our past, learning from them, and grow even stronger from the experience? But for the good. I must have shown my true feelings through my facial expression because something else flicker in Oka's eyes. Not sadness, not anger, something else. But I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Now, I finally can finish what my parents wanted. And I'm taking you down Avatar," She continued on and gestured for on the Red Lotus except for 4 men to stand by. "You three, take care of the rest. If I shall fail taking this girl down, the rest of you surrender with honor. Taking down the Avatar is something I must do." The rest of the Red Lotus looked surprised at her decision. At least she is honorable.

I gave a final look back to my group. When Bryant and me got eye contact, a silent conversation played.

'Be careful.'

'I'll try'

'Try?'

'Fine, I promise.'

'Good'

I redirected my attention to Oka. Everyone else had stepped back. Judging by her appearance, most likely a combustion bender. I made the first move, sending a vertical air swipe towards her. She quickly dodged by jumping right, but as soon as she touched the ground, I sent an Earth Line to her left foot hopping to trip her. Surprisingly, she remained balanced by leaning on her right foot. A look of triumph appeared on her face.

"I'm no regular person, Avatar." She called out haughtily. She combustion bends a blast to me, I had barely any time to react and create an Earth Wall to defend myself. The wall breaks apart from the impact causing a dust cloud around me, blocking my view. I hear anyone blast coming from the right and quickly move backwards.

Calm down, Cheryl. Listen to the environment. I close my eyes and perform Semitic sense to get a view of the area. She's moving pretty fast for a firebender.I see her foot applying to the surface before jumping around in circles around me.

Maybe I should evade her attacks, instead of enduring it. One hit and I could be done. I take a deep breath I wasn't as skilled with the other elements' strategy yet. I remember Bryant teaching me on how to enhance speed. I'm still shaky on it, but why not try it?

I use my air bending to decrease air resistance around me and start zipping around her in zig-zag formation around her. She lets a grunt of frustration, trying to confirm my location. I send an air swipe to her feet, causing her to cough from the flying dust.

I start circling around her with accelerated. She looks around the rocky, her eyes eventually settling on this one spot. She grins evilly, and blasts to that spot. I turn around, finding rocks falling down from where she blasted. I screech to a stop to avoid impact with the rocks. A sigh a relief falls from me when I stop just in front of where the boulders landed. Next thing I knew, flames engulfed the area around me. I hiss as my left arm burns a bit from contact.

"Give up already Avatar! I clearly have the advantage!" I simply clench my jaw, ignoring the pain. I look up finding her still jumping from place to place like before. I use remote earthbending from the part of towering rocks that sends Oka to the ground. She gives me an angry look. I then send an earth bomb making the ground shake. I then create an Earth Armor on me. She smirks before giving me a combustion blast. Create another Earth shield, but the blast breaks it and sends my armor blowing off of me. Then she sends me fire missiles. I manage the distinguish some directed toward me, but the rest surround me in a circle.

I create a dust cloud to cover me while I use fire augmentation to minimize the fire. Next, I earth bent a hole under me and cover the top, using firebending to light up the place. Then, I place my hand on the surface above trying to get a reading on her location.

"Come out Come out wherever you are Avatar! You can't hide for forever. Besides, I think one of you friends might be a great rag doll for me to toss around!" I quickly shot up from my hiding location.

"Don't you dare touch them!" I retorted. She ignores my warning and simply sends a strong fire blast to me. Not expecting such a fast move, I make a weak air shield to counter. The shield isn't strong enough and sends me slaming to one of the huge rock towers. I peek open one eye, my vision a bit blurry and my back aching. She laughs seeing me crumpled up on the ground.

"I believe it's time to end this stupid game. Why don't we have your little friends fall with you too?" She gives me a sly grin. "Finish the brats off! Or I'll do it!" She yells to the 4 people fighting the rest of Team Avatar. Each having one of my friends locked. They looked kinda hurt to be yelled at, but do the orders nevertheless. The 2 waterbenders creates a ice dagger that points to Bryant's and Akina's throats, the firebenders creates fire daggers at Lily's and Sean's.

"Do it!" She yells at them again.

"Nooooo!" I cry out, my hand helplessly stretched out trying to reach them. Suddenly, the whole world turns white-ish and I don't feel like I have full in control of my body. My mind feels far away from what's going on, and the visual is far and blurry too.

Bryant's POV:

I close my eyes ready for the sharp tool to hit my throat. Instead, I feel a strong wind and its blasts away the hold of the waterbender. I open my eyes, finding Cheryl's eyes glowing white and she is floating onto of an air sprout. Her expression is an angry and pained one. I look to Oka. She gives a split second of fear before grinning evilly.

"Finally! The Avatar State, so the rumors about activating it from protecting loved ones is true. It's so much better then chasing the stupid Avatar across the globe and using poison." She laughs but is suddenly sent crashing to the ground from an air swipe.

"Oka, your thirst for revenge and ways have put the world out of balance," says Cheryl, though its not only hers. There are two other voices speaking with her. "We will end your campaign along with you."

Oka just chuckles.

"The Red Lotus will always continue! And it will always hunt for the Avatar-" Her words are interrupted by the rock kicked toward her face resulting in the woman to dodge it. Cheryl then sinks Oka into the ground, making the limbs immobile. Oka struggles to free herself, as half of her body is within the ground.

Cheryl lowers herself to the ground and flicks a tiny pebble to Oka's red eye, causing the chi to be blocked, making her vulnerable. Cheryl slowly walks up to her, places her fingers on the forehead and the chest. A white glow happens in those areas, and Oka's head limps.

Then she walks to the rest of the Red Lotus members still in their originally spot, and shocked to see their leader defeated. When she approaches them they all bow down. I walk up next to her slowly afraid of what she might do to the others. I hesitantly take her right hand. She looks to me, her eyes still glowing. I think back to what Oka said before about how the Avatar State is activated. Maybe the reverse …

"It's okay. We're all okay. Everything will be alright." I say. I could tell I was getting through to her as the anger left her face. Then her glowing white eyes return to her normal sparkling emerald ones. She slumps slightly forward and I catch her to prevent her from falling forward. She looks around, fully examining what happened. Sympathy appears on her face when she sees Oka. She pushes me off gently, and I let go of her.

"Instead of putting you all to jail, I'm giving you guys the chance to volunteer in cities around the world to see how the people really feel about the governments. All the nations have their leaders back … I saw," She pauses, waiting for the information to sink in. "Please, consider helping out and listening. I don't want to fight you, we're all humans. Can't we have peace?"

The Red Lotus members raise their heads and stare at Cheryl, still hesitant. That's when I see Cheryl collapse to her knees and fall forward. I quickly catch her just before her head hits the ground. I pick her up, and cradle her. She's unconscious now, her expression a little more relaxed then before.

"Well, I'll do it." I hear a man say. I look up to a Water Tribe Man in the 30s that was standing in the front. He looks back and the others start getting up too, saying the same thing. My jaw drops in shock.

"We promise." They say in unison.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" I ask with confusion. The man who first stood up speaks.

"To be exact, the Red Lotus kinda already died down. Only some of us came back because of Oka. Her determination about freedom seemed great at first, but then her true side about revenge showed. She would treat us whenever she got too angry. When we thought about the title Avatar, we thought of an almighty suppressor. To see this little girl fight us with such a heart … it made me, no, us, realize that the Avatar is human too. And to have her give us a 2nd chance, is amazing." I smile and look at Cheryl who has snuggled close to me. She really is an inspiration.

"What about the rest?" I asked. He gives me a confused look at first and but realizes what I am talking about.

"Oh, this is pretty much all of us except I the ones in the United Republic of Nations, I think. For some reason, we wasn't able to contact the ones there and they haven't called back to us." He scratches his head in confusion.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we get the others to help."

"Thanks kid. Take care of her." I nod back.

The main concern is finally over, we can relax a bit.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Once again, there will be a Book 2 and Book 1 is not over yet people. This is not the final chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed this week's longer chapter. Hopefully, I get to update quicker. Book 2's title is called Bonds. I have been waiting to announce it, and now I can! Once again please review and tell me how you think about the final battle of Book 1, and how to improve, like the battle scenes. Please, please, Please, review this chapter. I worked really hard on it. Is it going too fast?**


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